Chores, baths and introductions?

Disclaimer: I don't own nurarihyon no mago or any of its characters

Yusuke had only just gotten to Toono yesterday and she was already being worked to the bone with chores. She had to wake up extra early to prepare breakfast then after that she would have to collect all of the laundry that needed to be done and carry it to the river were it would be washed. Afterwards she would have to lug the entire load up a small mountain of rocks to hang them up to dry. Then she would have to chop the fire wood which wasn't as hard as it sounded. Next she would have to return and cook dinner for almost all of the yokai in the village which took a reasonable amount of time. Finally the last chore she would have to do for the day would be doing all of the dishes and by the time they were done, it would already be around midnight.

Yusuke continued to scrub at the laundry she was in the middle of washing. So far she had only accomplished making breakfast and almost all of the laundry. As much as she hated having absolutely no free time and being worked like a slave there were some up sides to living in Toono from now on. For example, Reira had offered Yusuke a fresh, new priestess uniform to wear. It wasn't almost in tatters and wasn't cluttered with dirt or small blood stains. The only thing that Yusuke didn't like about it was its colour; it was pristine white. But Yusuke said nothing on the matter because she really didn't want to be rude to her new friend.

Reira had also offered to tie Yusuke's hair up in a pretty style and trim her ragged bangs but Yusuke politely declined. She preferred her straggly, shoulder length hair to be down at all times as well as her long, messy bangs that provided her the ability to hide her face easily whenever she wanted to. Overall, Reira and Yukari had been so kind to Yusuke so far. Reira had even proposed that she would help Yusuke make dinner and would do the dishes for her so that she would have some time to take a bath.

Yusuke had finally finished washing the last bag of laundry. She loaded it all in the large bag and swung it over her shoulder. Just as she was about to make her way towards the hill of rocks, the sound of foots steps echoed behind her. Yusuke turned her head around to see a large rooster-like yokai holding two large laundry bags over his shoulders.

"I've got more laundry for you to do." He exclaimed as he let the two bags fall to the ground.

Yusuke's gaze switched from the bags to the yokai before giving a small pout.

"But...I thought this was the last load?"

"Nope, you missed some."

The yokai threw the bags at Yusuke's feet while he chuckled in an almost sinister way. Yusuke glared at the laundry bags as if they were her enemy before switching her death glare to the tall rooster yokai that was now walking away. Yusuke cursed under her breath to the now out of sight yokai before continuing towards the hill. Yusuke climbed her way up the rocks while lugging the heavy bag over her shoulder. Yusuke was very grateful that she had not fallen on her way up the small mountain or else she would have had a lot of laundry to pick up.

Yusuke began hanging up the wet laundry in an almost furious way. It was only the first day in Toono and she already hated it but she wouldn't complain since her life there was much better than her past life at the temple. The crisp morning breeze slowly flew by Yusuke, causing her raven hair to drift along with it. As her hair flowed through the light breeze, rays of sunlight reflected off of her silver highlights. Just as Yusuke was about to finish hanging the rest of the laundry she heard a soft voice speak from behind her.

"Yusuke, do you have a moment?" asked a familiar voice. Yusuke spun her head in the direction of the voice, seeing Reira standing with a soft smile on her face with Yukari standing next to her.

"Yeah, what is it?" Yusuke replied, trying to sound as pleasant as possible.

"Well I would like to introduce you to some of my friends, if that's okay with you." Yusuke smiled slightly before nodding her head. Reira's already existing smile brightened at her silent response. Reira took hold of Yukari's small hand and gestured for the half demon to follow. Soon enough, Reira had led Yusuke to a large training ground that was surrounded by large trees. Yusuke's silvery eyes gleamed with wonder as she took in the beautiful sight before her. The training ground looked so natural, as if it were part of the forest unlike the ones back at the temple. In the middle of the training ground were two yokai sparring with each other. It was similar to what the exterminators used to do on their free time. Yusuke always watched them spar when she was a child and found great interest in it. It was the only time when she would not be scolded for doing something other than working to improve herself.

Reira made her way down to the training ground with Yukari at her side. Yusuke followed suit. Soon the three girls had made their way down to the sparring area where Yusuke could now get a better view of the yokai training. One was a blonde male, wielding a sword. He had dark yellow eyes that seemed to have a naturally piercing gaze to them. The other was another male with a seemingly average build. He had short, messy black hair that was mostly hidden beneath a red bandana and wielded three sickles. The noises of their clashing weapons echoed through the forest endlessly. Yusuke's eyes were glued to the boy with the three sickles. His movements and technique intrigued her greatly. She felt as if she were learning just by watching the two yokai spar. Soon enough, Yusuke had fallen into somewhat of a trance as she blankly studied them. Reira had given a slight "ahem" but the half breed was too captivated to even acknowledge the yuki-onna's actions.

Soon the two yokai had ceased their sparring and now stood still, eyes glued to Reira. Reira's speaking was almost muffled to Yusuke as she remained in her own little world. It almost sounded like Reira had spoken her name...oh well. She could not seem to pry her eyes away from the sickle boy, unaware that now his sharp, brown eyes were staring straight at her. Finally, Yusuke had been brought back to reality as realization hit her that she was mindlessly staring at the boy...and had been caught doing so. Her grey eyes snapped back to the way they once were as she helplessly glanced around, noticing that now all eyes were on her.

"H-huh?" was all that the raven-haired girl could say as she looked towards Reira, her eyes begging for help. The pinkette gave Yusuke a small smile before repeating her words.

"Yusuke, this is Awashima and this is Itaku." She said softly, gesturing to each one as she spoke their names. Yusuke repeated the names in her head in order to ensure that she was pronouncing them correctly.

Once she was certain that she understood, Yusuke gave a nod before bowing slightly while saying: "It's nice to meet you, I'm Yusuke Ki-"She was cut off by the blonde yokai, Awashima.

"Yusuke Kimura. Yeah, we know." He spoke sounding slightly annoyed by the half breed's words. Yusuke slowly lifted her head but was sure to let it hang slightly in order for her ragged bangs to partially mask her face.

"S-sorry." Yusuke apologized in a low, quiet voice. She had nothing else to say afterwards. It wasn't like she could just start chatting them up with a bunch of yokai talk and it wasn't like she could simply yell "Hey, why don't we spar?" or anything of that sort either. The only thing she could do was awkwardly stand in the thick silence while she tried to cover her slightly blushing cheeks. Suddenly an unfamiliar voice shattered the long silence. Thank God.

"Hey, what's going on over here?" asked the voice. Everyone but Yusuke glanced in the direction of the speaker.

"Oh, Amezo, Dohiko, I was just introducing Yusuke to Awashima and Itaku." replied Reira.

"Yusuke? You mean that cute newcomer?" asked another voice. At this point, Yusuke's face had become so red that she was sure people could see her blush even from beneath the camouflage of her bangs. Yusuke was forced to glance up when she felt Reira's cold hand touch her shoulder.

"Yusuke, this is Amezo and Dohiko." Yusuke shot a concealed glance towards the two new yokai. One was a green, fish-like yokai with gleaming yellow eyes. The other was a tall, monkey-like demon with brown fur all around his square face and body. The two approached the group casually, joining in on the "conversation". Before Yusuke could return her gaze to the ground, the fish-like yokai, Amezo, came up to her, his face only inches from hers.

"Hey, you know, now that I take a closer look at her, she really does have a cute face." he spoke with great enthusiasm in his strange voice.

Yusuke took a few steps back to gain some distance between them, remaining silent.

"Not very outgoing though, huh." Spoke the other yokai, Dohiko. Well what did they expect? For Yusuke to be completely enthusiastic about meeting yokai when she was such a weakling? Yusuke's head shot up as she felt two hands firmly grip her shoulders. She whipped her gaze around, almost hitting the person behind her in the face with her hair. It was Awashima.

"So what's your fear?" he asked in a slightly eager manner. Yusuke arched a brow at the blonde's question. She understood what "fear" was to yokai but had never known what sort of it she possessed. Yusuke found it quite pointless for Awashima to ask such an obvious question but nevertheless, Yusuke politely replied.

"I...I don't know." Awashima seemed almost taken aback by the half demon's response and spun her around effortlessly so that now he was facing the raven-haired girl.

"What?! You don't know?" Yusuke merely shook her head innocently.

"Don't be stupid, Awashima. Think about it. She was raised by exterminators, why would she know." Itaku stepped in. Both glanced towards him before looking back at each other.

"Yeah, I guess so." Awashima said, still not releasing his grip on her shoulders. "Well do you at least know what yokai you are?"

"No...I really don't." Yusuke said shamefully.

"Hunh, well it's hard to tell when you're in human form, change into your yokai form." Awashima spoke with a hint of demand in his voice.

"I don't know how." Yusuke said slightly irritably. Awashima finally let go of the half breed's shoulders and turned; now facing the opposite direction.

"Jeez, you're not much of a yokai at all." the blonde boy said disappointed.

"Well it's not her fault." Reira defended.

"Yeah..." Yukari agreed, coughing lightly towards the end of her sentence. Yusuke was relieved that at least she had Reira and Yukari to stand up for her.

"So, Yusuke...do you think you would ever want to learn of what your fear is?" Reira asked softly.

"Well...I suppose that it might be a useful piece of knowledge." Yusuke replied, slightly unsure of her words.

"Well you know, Itaku is actually pretty good at this sort of thing. Why don't you get him to teach you?" Awashima chimed in. Everyone sent a glance in Itaku's direction, expecting him to reply.

"Learning about her fear is something that she'll have to figure out on her own. I'm not too fond of teaching these things unless I have to." and with that, Itaku swiftly leaped onto a high tree branch, taking his leave. Reira let out a sigh before sending the discouraged Yusuke a small but reassuring smile.

"Don't worry; he just has to warm up to you a bit. I'm sure that once you get to know each other better, he won't mind mentoring you." Yusuke's eyes reverted back to the ground as she gave a slight nod.

"Well...um, it was nice to meet all of you, good bye." Yusuke gave a light bow before turning on her heel and making her way back towards the river where she had "abandoned" the laundry. Yusuke had dropped her polite posture (which seemed to naturally appear when he met new people) and was now casually sauntering back. Upon arrival, the half breed allowed her knees to fall to the ground in front of the river, letting out a huff before continuing with her chores. All the while, Yusuke had not realized the pair of piercing brown eyes from up in the trees that followed her movement carefully.

A dark star-filled sky had already blanketed Toono village by the time Yusuke had finished preparing dinner. Reira had kept to her commitment and began to pick up the disserted dishes once everyone had filed out of the dining area.

"Are you sure that you don't want me to stay and help you, Reira?" Yusuke asked.

"I'm fine, Yusuke, just go and enjoy your bath." The yuki-onna flashed the half demon a smile before exiting the dining hall with a pile of dirty dishes in her hands. Yusuke sighed in defeat before starting towards the sliding, wood door. She stopped in her tracks just before the door, trying to recall how to reach the open-air bath.

"Was it down the hall and up the stairs? Or could only be accessed from outside?" She thought for a moment before shrugging it off.

"Oh well, I suppose I'll just wing it then."

Yusuke exited the dining area and made her way down the hall to begin her (hopefully not-so-long) search for the bath. Yusuke was feeling slightly confident in herself before coming across a "fork in the road". She had the choice to either continue down The Hall of Death or climb The Stairs of Doom (which were names that she so cleverly came up with). Yusuke thought for a moment, sending glances in both directions. Finally she chose to climb The Stairs of Doom since The Hall of Death sounded much more dangerous and scary then the stairs did. The half breed hurried up the steps before reaching the top hall. There was only one door that sat in the semi-long and empty hallway. Yusuke only hoped that it led to the open-air bath and not a room that she would regret entering. Yusuke slowly pulled the sliding door open; feeling relieved once the doors opened to reveal large boulders that surrounded a shallow pool of murky, steaming water. A small smile slipped onto the raven-haired girl as she strode towards the hot spring. Her grey eyes scanned the area, noticing that no-one was there. Yusuke quickly undressed and slipped into the bath, letting the hot water absorb and cleanse her.

She allowed her eyelids to close as her muscles began to relax in the soothing water. Yusuke moved back a bit and leaned her back onto a rock. This was the first time in a long time that Yusuke actually felt at ease. Unfortunately her moment of peace was shattered when the loud noise of the sliding door opening then closing caused her to jolt upright. Her eyes shot in the direction of the noise but she could only make out the silhouette of what looked to be a female. Yusuke squinted hard, attempting to see through the thick steam that clouded her vision. Before Yusuke could react to the figure slipping into the bath, it spoke.

"Hey, Yusuke, is that you? Reira said that you were taking a bath out here so I thought I'd join you." The voice was seemingly unfamiliar to her. The figure had gotten close enough to Yusuke that she could now make out the facial features through the steam. The girl had shoulder length blonde hair and large golden eyes, strikingly similar to Awashima.

"Who are you?" Yusuke questioned, sounding a little more demanding then she had meant.

"What do you mean? It's me! Awashima!" she said enthusiastically while letting a smug smile curl onto her lips.

"Awashima? But...I thought that..." Yusuke started but she somehow could not find the words to finish her sentence nor did she bother to mask her deep confusion.

"I'm a male during the day and a female at night! It's my yokai trait." She explained. "But just remember that whether I'm in male form or female form, I'll always be a man at heart!" Awashima finished her sentence with a large grin towards Yusuke.

"O-okay." she stuttered, confusion still haunting her but she decided to shrug it off.

"Good!" With a great splash, Awashima threw herself next to Yusuke and draped her arm around the half demon's shoulders. "So...I noticed you checkin' out Itaku earlier." The blonde teased with a cheeky grin plastered to her face. As soon as the words "checking out" slipped from Awashima's mouth, Yusuke became instantly flustered.

"Ch-checking him out? Why w-would you s-say that? I mean...I wasn't...it's just that...no, I..." Awashima watched in amusement as the half breed tripped over her own words.

"Aaah, don't get so embarrassed! Itaku has tons of admirers here in Toono." Yusuke ceased her mumbling and sent Awashima a slight look of surprise.

"He does?"

"Are you kidding? Almost every girl in Toono has their eyes on him, except Reira of course."

"Huh...well, I guess I can kind of see why."

"Yeah, but he's never once fallen for a girl though."

"Oh? So he's a heartbreaker then?"

"Well...I guess you could say that since he always turns down every single girl that confesses to him. Every time I ask him why he does, he just tells me that he doesn't have time for that sort of stuff."

"I see...well, I kind of feel sorry for all of the girls that he's turned down. It must be hard for them to move on."

"Ha, yeah, but you'll be surprised at how persistent these girls can be. There's this one girl named Ai who has been turned down eight times in a row but she still doesn't give up on him."

"Wow...I don't know if that's either true love or a stubbornness condition." It was silent for a moment before Awashima burst out laughing at Yusuke's statement as the raven-haired girl just sat there with a look of confusion on her pale features. Finally Awashima's laughter had died down enough for her to speak.

"Knowing Ai, it's probably the latter. She's practically obsessed with Itaku! She glares at any girl that talks to him and hates Reira with a passion."

"What? But who could ever hate Reira?"

"She hates her because Reira is a close friend of Itaku."

"Oh...well, jealousy can mold you into a cruel person." Yusuke spoke as-a-matter-of-factly. Awashima merely nodded in agreement with her as she removed her arm from the young girl's shoulders.

There was complete yet relaxing silence for a little while as the two girls took the time to settle. After a while, Yusuke began to feel eyes looking her up and down, making her slightly uncomfortable. Her grey orbs glanced towards Awashima who had her golden ones glued to Yusuke's chest as if attempting to classify it.

"Um, Awashima...what are you doing?"

"Just analyzing your figure..." she answered bluntly.

"Oh...uh, okay." Yusuke said with awkwardness laced in her voice.

"You know, Yusuke, you actually have a pretty well proportioned chest which means that you would probably look really good in a badass warrior outfit or something. You'd probably get a few admirers yourself if you wore something more daring." A small blush crept its way up Yusuke's neck and planted itself onto her ghostly cheeks.

"Ah! Well, I don't know about that...I think t-that...uh..." Awashima just let out another laugh at her friend's reaction.

"You're way too modest, Yusuke. Why not just admit that you're pretty?" Yusuke's blush only grew as she hung her head, allowing her ragged bangs to cover her red face. Awashima pursed her lips as she noticed the half breed trying to hide herself.

"You know, you should really cut those bangs of yours and get them out of your face." Awashima sighed when she received no reply from the half demon.

"Well, I'm gonna get out now, you coming?" the blonde yokai asked while standing up and stretching. Only then did Yusuke emerge from behind her bangs to look up at Awashima who was already in the middle of putting her clothes back on. Yusuke nodded her head before following suit. She pulled on her white priestess uniform and slipped on her sandals. Awashima had already finished putting her clothes on since she only had to pull on some pajamas and sandals similar to Yusuke's. Obviously the half breed had not thought to bring her pajamas along to change into. By then, Awashima was already standing at the door, awaiting her friend. Yusuke scrambled towards the blonde and they both exited through the sliding door. The two girls made their way down the stair case and through a few halls before they had finally reached the bedroom for the females.

"Well, see you tomorrow, Yusuke!" Awashima called while giving her friend a wave of good bye.

"Wait, Awashima! Aren't you going to sleep?" Yusuke asked, gesturing to the entrance to the bedroom.

"Sleep in the girl's bedroom? No way! Like I said earlier, I'm a guy at heart." Awashima spoke with a slightly offended tone while she pointed to her chest with her thumb.

"Oh, right, sorry." Yusuke said sheepishly before hesitantly returning the wave that Awashima had given her moments ago. The blonde yokai turned on her heel and trudged off in the opposite direction, most likely in the direction of the men's bedroom. Yusuke turned and faced the sliding wood door before her and slid it open as silently as possible so not to wake anyone. The beds that had littered the floor the day before now bared many sleeping yokai in them, happily snoring (not literally) away. Yusuke closed the door behind her and slowly crept towards her bed that was conveniently in the corner of the room, nearest to the door. She slipped off her sandals and changed into her pajamas before snuggling under the warm covers. She pulled the covers all the way up to her chin since sleeping next to Reira always made the room feel colder. Yusuke could only hope that it was not too late at night considering how early she would have to wake up the next morning but she was not to bothered by it. Yusuke had successfully gained yet another friend. That was good enough to allow Yusuke to sleep soundly.

Author's note: well that took much longer than I thought. I'm very sorry to any who have been waiting for this chapter! But I really hope that you enjoyed nonetheless. So! Please review since reviews REALLY make my day :3 I promise that I will upload the next chapter much quicker! Thank you for reading!

~ FlammingAxel