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[A bit before Kazuma takes his leave to go after 76, he'll be considerate and send a message to Susato first. He's trying the thing with not keeping everything to himself, all right?]

Something has happened to 76. Do not leave your home. I suspect he might have finally turned.

[ It's night when Susato receives his message, which comes as a surprise, but perhaps not as much as it could have been. For a moment, all she can do is stare, hand covering her mouth; eyes frantic, as she glances in the direction of the room where Jack once stayed.

Does she ask her father what she should do?

...The flowers. The anti-noctaere flowers--the glowing dawns. They have the only ones left now. Could they--? ]

Where

[ Ultimately though, she recognizes that this is something Kazuma has to do. She once told him that she can't trail behind him forever. If there was ever a time for her protection charms to work, it would be now, but she tries not to think about the fact that it sounds like one already failed.

She crosses out what she's written, the start of a million questions running through her mind. ]

I understand. Please tell me what is going on when it is safe to do so. Bring him back.

[ . . . She can't help but feel like something is missing. Something she's not saying, or--

But she stops there, not expecting a response, but continuously nervously checking regardless. ]

[No reply was ever going to come- at least not in a reassuring way.

Some hours later there would be a scratching at the Mikotoba's door. Then a barking. then an outright howling simply because there was no time to wait. There at the porch were a few wolves, two of them laying against Kazuma's unconscious form. All with brightly glowing blue eyes, having slipped through a force, dragging the other out with them with the last bit of strength the essence of a man still trapped in a nightmare had. Not even to try and continue fighting for himself.

It was the last thing that he could manage, just three, who had the strength to do it.

One was still raising hell, and would until that door was answered.]

[The unconscious form of Kazuma that will greet whomever arrives at the door is that of his large Noctaere self. There's a huge lack of a domain presence though, and he was soaked like he had gone for a swim, cold to the touch. Closer inspection reveals puncture wounds, claw marks that had cut deeply into his flesh and scales around his shoulders, back and chest. There's likely some dislocated or broken bones after being rammed into buildings.

As he bleeds, dark wisps seeped out from the wounds. A large sheathed katana, too big for a mere human to hold laid beside him. The protection charm around his neck that Susato had given him, empty of paper cranes inside the bottle. In one of his claws, he was gripping onto some plant-like material. A torn glass looking flower? In fact, there were a few petals and plant materials that clung to his body.]

[ Susato is calm, at least for the first hour or two. She's not exactly keeping track of the time, but the longer she waits, the more antsy and impatient she feels, and pretty soon, she can't think about anything else. She pulls out her journal for the umpteenth time, turning to the exact same page, still void of a response.

Irritation starts to build, stroking the flame within her until she is warm to the touch with an angry fever. Don't leave home, he says. Ha. Ha! Just what the heck else is she supposed to do then? A late dinner is just out of the question--she has no appetite to speak of. She can't sleep. Clean? Clean where? All she could think to do is pace around like an absolute madwoman, thinking about how this is somehow worse than last month, when she had been waiting for them to come home with Jack.

Them came the scratching at the door. Then barking. A sudden chill ran down her spine, feeling like someone had dumped a cold bucket of ice water on her, and if that isn't enough, a howl follows, sending her jumping right out of her skin. She briefly glances towards the kitchen and their dining area, from where her father had likely heard it all, but decides not to wait, just this once.

Her feet carry her to the door faster than her brain could think. ]

Edited 2022-02-14 04:12 (UTC)

[ She throws the door open without mercy.

Slowly, she makes eye contact with the wolves one by one, quickly regarding them as ones behind the barking and howling, and then--

Her eyes fall on Kazuma. The same Kazuma who had isolated himself in the forest for some weeks in a nightmarish haze. The same Kazuma, she was pretty sure, was about to eat her at multiple points.

The same Kazuma she never quite told Yujin about.

After supressing the urge to throw up, she screams. ]

Edited 2022-02-14 04:12 (UTC)

[ Susato falls to her knees and crawls to his side as gingerly as she can. Her kimono is getting soaked with blood and whatever lake water he had found himself drenched in. She ignores this, reaching a shaky hand to push some of the hair out of his face--hair that she once had to jump to reach.

Around his neck, she doesn't even register the empty bottle as her charm, not just yet. Her wet and now probably cold hands lower from his hair to his face. ]

Kazuma-sama? Kazuma-sama, speak to me.

[She can nudge him and call to him all she wants, but there will be no response. There is only his heavy and uneven breathing to indicate he's not dead yet. He might have twitched when the hand touched his face. It's so warm and welcoming against his cold body. Some of the dark wisp brushes against her, seemingly trying to find a means to enter her body. She might get this feeling that the warmth was being pulled out of her, into him.]

[ The dark wisps feel like ice, cold and unforgiving. Feeling the way they feed on her warmth, she actually withdraws her hand from his face, alarmed, like she doesn't know if it's a good thing or not. If she might be hurting him.

She wipes at her face with her kimono sleeve, the unsettling combination of blood, water, and sweat overwhelming her for a brief moment. Then she stands up, doing her best to position herself behind him.

. . . She'll carry his whole body inside if she has to. She doesn't care how impossible it is for her. Luckily though, she spots Yujin at their door coming up behind her. ]

Dad! [ Any semblance of formality is gone, leaving only a scared and desperate little girl. When is even the last time she called him something other than 'father'? ] Dad, please. Help me.

[ Help me help him. ]

[Yujin had been on edge all evening as well. Susato had informed him of Kazuma's message, of course, and already it had left him restless. He doesn't like the idea of Kazuma going out to do these sorts of dangerous things by himself, and he quite thought he'd already made his thoughts on that clear after his struggles to save 76. Apparently not clear enough, then.

For most of the wait, he'd been expecting to once again get called out to treat 76, be it at their house or on the edge of town somewhere. Somehow, it hadn't occurred to him that things might go horribly wrong for Kazuma instead. The howling, when it last it breaks loose, has him rise from his chair. Not in alarm, but in confusion. He spends a moment frozen as Susato goes to answer the door, and it's that same delay he comes to regret when he hears her scream. At last he strides through the house to catch up to her, heart hammering in his chest and tensions rising so high that he leaves a trail of light frost in his wake. The sight before their door is so very hectic, it takes him a good five seconds before he even processes that he's looking at Kazuma.]

What... [... No, that's not important, is it? He hastily shakes his head.] Don't bother attempting to get him to a bed. We need only get him inside for now.

[With that, he strides over to Kazuma's other side, prepared to lift him up from the ground. The wolves are basically ignored for now, as they appear to be friendly enough.]

[Yujin will feel the warmth being slowly drained out of him from contact as well, Kazuma's body itself being cold to the touch.

Someone was moving him again, his senses can gather as much. There was something else too. Smelled sweet, warm, just enough to satiate his growing hunger. Tasty dreamotion energy. He takes in some air, tail twitching as he slowly opens his eyes. His sight is blurred, but he could still smell that energy, just on the tip of his forked tongue. Three of them...? His attention isn't on the two people with him.]

[ Susato's nerves calm slightly with the support of Yujin. She'd always believed there was nothing they couldn't do together. Their combined efforts once saved her best friend's life, after all. Even though this is clearly something in a far different league, she has to believe they will do the same. Again and again and again if they have to.

She perks up even more when Kazuma's eyes open, but it's like he's not seeing. It takes her some time, but she recognizes the look. She looks over to the wolves, for a moment seeing the fox he once chased in the forest. In the next, she recognized them as Jack's wolves that she'd seen him conjure in Whoville.

Any relief she felt was then frozen like the touch she feels on Kazuma's skin. ]

Father, he's awake. [ Her heart sinks, voice trembling. ] . . . Give him space.

Edited 2022-02-15 03:50 (UTC)

[The feeling of the cold only serves to make Yujin even more resolved to move Kazuma inside. It's clear that he's suffering from severe undercooling and if this keeps up, it could lead to some very severe problems. Or so he assumes, in any case. The half-snake thing might save Kazuma from such a fate, but he doesn't want to gamble on such theories. ~~The cold never bothered Yujin anyway~~

Ultimately, they hadn't really managed to move Kazuma more than a few steps before the young man stirs and his eyes flicker open. They haven't reached the threshold into the house just yet, but this will have to do for now. Carefully, Yujin lowers him back down to the ground. He doesn't pull his hands back yet, though.]

... Kazuma?

[It hurts, everything hurts. Having to remain standing was a struggle as he stands on all fours. The wolves were still hovering around him, almost as if they were waiting for something. As if they knew.

It happened so quickly, for a beast covered in wounds. Claws stabbed into the nearest wolf, tail swinging, knocking into anyone or anything that didn't move out of the way fast enough. He care little of his surroundings, all he could think of was satiating his hunger. He gorges onto the wolf that didn't even try to free itself, hardly making a sound. The other wolves did not run either as one of their own is taken from them. They kept waiting.

It was just one wolf, but he could feel his energy replenish, his body warming up. Onto the next one, and then the third, going after each with increasing ferocity. Their home shakes as he slams into it, not really watching or able to control his movements in his weaken state. Just eat, and keep eating.

Why did this warmth feel so familiar tho...? Why does it hurt, even as he could feel his body recovering?

Something wet is falling from his face. He had started to cry. Soon enough, the wolves have all been consumed, a clawed hand grasping the side of their home, the other over his face. Why did it hurt so much?! He suddenly let out a deafening scream. He's on his knees, both hands now grasping his head.

He's done something terrible. He had failed.

He failed.]

[ She can't watch.

Truth be told, the only thing keeping her from throwing up is the desperate need to protect Yujin--and the fact that, with just precious moments to spare, she'd known what was about to happen, whatever that knowledge was worth. By the time Kazuma lunges forward, Yujin still had not pulled back, so Susato pushes him back and away, against the wall, narrowly avoiding one of Kazuma's claws and the distinct sound of breaking glass crashing into the ground.

Did he break a window? Maybe it was the decorative vase that Yujin had placed near their entrance?

She doesn't care. She doesn't even look, keeping her face pressed against Yujin's chest the entire time as she could feel her own tears start form, then fall without stopping as Kazuma cried out.

. . . She trembles. She feels like she can't move. She wants to say in this bubble forever, both to protect and be protected by Yujin, but with the sound of his scream still ringing in her ears, she lifts her head and turns around.

Blinking away tears isn't enough to clear away the blurriness in her vision, but she'll approach Kazuma anyway, hand outstretched like she's reaching for his shoulder. ]

[Susato may have recognized warning signals, but Yujin hadn't. It's a good thing that she pushes him aside, to safety, because that claw missed his leg by mere inches. He's still dazed when he hits the wall, confused and unsure what just happened- what is still happening. The shattering sound barely even registered. What he does realize is that Susato is pressing herself up against his chest. Instinctively, he wraps his arms around her, holding her close. He has to keep her safe.

Susato might be looking away, but Yujin is not. There isn't any blood, nor gore of any kind. The wolves were not real corporeal beings, after all. Even so, the sight is a horrifying one; a reminder that even with all of Yujin's experience with corpses and murderers, he can still be chilled to his very core. If he has nightmares tonight, he won't be surprised in the least.

Through the shock of it all, the carnage is over as seemingly-suddenly as it began. The wolves are gone, as if they'd never even been there, and now Kazuma is screaming. He feels Susato pull away- sees her turn to approach Kazuma again, but he's not having any of that. He takes hold of her arm, tugging her back towards him before her fingers can touch down on Kazuma's shoulder.]

Don't. Not yet. It's too... Too dangerous. [He hates that he has to voice it like that. He hates that he has to refer to Kazuma as "dangerous", but there's no sugarcoating it.]

[He lifts his head after hearing Yujin's voice. Between the tears, yellow eyes turn onto them. His teeth were bare, his first thought was more food. He turns, crawling towards them, blood dripping from his wounds. There was rage in his eyes. It's not over, he can still go back and fight. He just needed more, replenish his strength.

He wince, feeling a pang of pain from his head. Hesitance? This is wrong. Why was this wrong? He has to eat something.]

[ There's no resistance from Susato when Yujin grabs her arm. Whether it's because she's scared of him in this state, or whether she is just too drained of any energy to defy her father, it's unclear. She stops a short distance from Kazuma without taking a step forwards or backwards, taking in the paralyzing, vengeful stare he has in his eyes.

This is what almost happened. Not just in the forest, but from the very first day when he attacked Lord van Zieks, she had been desperate to see him, to be the one to pull him to his senses. A combination of Lord van Zieks himself, as well as 76, had taken that from her.

Now she has a chance, to be there for him. Either she would succeed, or die trying. Somehow she makes peace with this. ]

Kazuma-sama, can you hear me? You're hurt. [ Her voices is full of cracks, uneven. ] You must let us help you now.

[Noble as Susato's intentions are, Yujin can't ignore that look in Kazuma's eyes. It's the sort of look one might see in a vicious dog. Or, indeed, a snake which is about to strike, though he doubts any snake could be quite this expressive. So while Susato may not be moving forward, nor backward, Yujin takes that freedom from her. He pulls her back several more steps, to compensate for the fact that Kazuma is crawling towards them.

Until they can be certain he won't attack, they need to keep their distance. And the front door is right there.]

... Susato, go inside the house and fetch some of the dried flowers. There's a jar of it on my bedside cabinet.

[They can't both go inside; it could trigger Kazuma into a swift pursuit, or otherwise allow him to flee. He needs to be kept here, right outside the house, at least until they can attempt to calm him with the flowers. If it's only Susato who goes inside, then perhaps...]

[The voice reaches him, and at first it didn't seem to register through the hunger and pain he felt. He stares at Susato, so vulnerable and presented to him on a platter. The sweet scent she gave off was so alluring....and yet familiar. He knows this dream scent from before. They were out in the forest, talking together. About what, he can't remember, but it was peaceful time with her and 76.

She is not food. Off-limits.

He stops his advance, shaking his head, trying to make sense of it all. A hiss as Mikotoba pulls Susato back. This man though. What is he trying to do? He hasn't worked out whether to eat him or not, but he clearly disproves of him pulling Susato back.]

[ Susato still offers no resistance when she is pulled back, stumbling with none of her usual grace and poise. She doesn't take her eyes off Kazuma. In fact, whether she even registers what Yujin said at all is unclear for a short while. It feels like her heart stops when Kazuma does, something she wants to desperately believe is a sign of his resistance and spirit. She doesn't know why he reacted badly there, though . . .

Is he mad because she's actually getting through to him and she doesn't want her to back away, or is he just mad that Yujin is trying to take away his snack? ]

. . . I will not leave you. [ Her voice carries a surprising amount of conviction, for being spoken through tears. She gently twists her arm to free herself from Yujin's grasp. Who's she talking to, though? She's looking at Kazuma still, though she's responding to Yujin. Easily, she means both.

But the flowers are a brilliant idea, fitting for the one Sholmes called partner. ]

You should go. He shouldn't be able to fit through the door, even if he finds the energy.

[You children- honestly. Yujin allows Susato to free her arm, but that doesn't mean his guard lowers any less. His gaze remains on Kazuma for the most part, because that hiss was a very bad sign. Should there be a need, he'll pull Susato into an embrace and shield her with his own body. Don't think he won't!]

That is precisely why you should go. What sort of father would I be if I left you with him by yourself?

['The sort of father he was in the early years', he thinks bitterly. He can't make those sorts of mistakes again. He needs to put his daughter before everything else. He needs to do this for her.]

Please. It won't take more than half a minute to fetch the jar and once you have it, we may calm him down.

[Snakes don't normally growl, but this one sure does. He's glaring up at Yujin instead of Susato, tail swishing about, agitated. Maybe the one who should be worried about getting hurt here, is Yujin and not Susato.]

She sstaysss. [Through his snarls, he's going to make that very clear this time. As threatening as he's been coming off, he hasn't made any further advances towards them.]

...!

[ What kind of daughter would she be though if she left him instead? What kind of sister...? Despite her convictions, however, Susato is inclined to listen to her father. She could move more quickly than him, she thinks, as well as host of other reasons why it makes sense--though all that seems to go out the proverbial window as soon as Kazuma speaks.

Her stomach and heart are in knots. She no longer wishes to speak about Kazuma as if he weren't here. Noting how he's glaring at Yujin, Susato takes a step forward, putting forth her arm that she had just freed in a protective manner over him. ]

Of course I will. But you can't-- [ She can't even say it. She doesn't want to imagine Kazuma attacking the man took care of him like a father, no matter how close it was to happening already. The very man who would also end up having to stitch his wounds. Somehow. ] You just can't. The pain will only get worse.

[ In more ways than one. ]

. . . Let him go.

[ Sorry, dad... (and hurry). ]

Early-Mid Feb. After all the nightmare dreamwalking stuff.

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CW: Eating live animals imagery

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