Yukie's Pub

When the two had finally gotten to the pub located in the small village close to the forest, Cecilia stopped in front of the doors, sweeping the twigs and dirt off her skirt once again.

"Ooh... I don't know how you can live in a forest... It's so dirty and...and... irritating!" Cici huffed, throwing back her hair.
"Anyway, I won't be able to talk much... Yukie might be watching and will think that I'm slacking off... But I hope you enjoy yourself~" she said cheerfully, coming inside the pub's entryway. A few seated customers turned to look at the odd-looking pairing, gaping at them. She didn't mind the stares, really, and ignored them with a smile. Cecilia disappeared behind the bar counter, only to come back shortly with a tray full of drinks and tasty, steaming food.

"Go ahead and have a seat somewhere, Itazura~ You can order something too, if you like~" Cici hopped from table to table, serving, smiling, and taking orders from the needy customers at a veteran speed.

It was obvious that Itazura did not take kindly to these stares, as she gave one of these mortals a deathglare that made him freeze in place and dropped the glass of beer he was holding. The glass shattering on the ground and Itazura took a seat away from the people. She did not know why exatly she followed the half-breed here, but Cici seemd to be someone that Itazura could actualy befriend, and Itazura hadn't met someone like that in tens of years.

Cecilia frowned when the customer had shattered the glass, causing her sensitive ears to hurt. She swept up and discarded the broken glass and beer mess before giving Itazura a small pout, as if silently saying "Don't upset the other customers too much, please".

As Cecilia walked across the floor with a full tray of beers, she was interrupted by a grab on her arm, which caused her to stop abruptly and slosh the beers a bit.

"Cute little fox girl..." the man grumbled, a sly grin on his face. "Why don't you come sit on my lap and keep me company... Take a little break from yer job and have a few drinks with me!" His voice was thick with intoxication as he tightened his grip on Cici's arm and pulled her closer to him.

"I'm sorry... I'm not on done with my shift yet. But I'd be more than happy to fetch you a beer..." she replied calmly, a smile still painted onto her face.

"Oh, don't be so shy, honey! Let's share a glass of wine! Just you and me!" he said, swinging Ceci onto his lap like a ragdoll, causing her to drop her tray of beer she was calmly balancing until now. The whole thing crashed onto the floor, which made Cici's ears ring even more.

"No... I don't--" she started, pulling against his tight grip until she was interrupted by the rowdy customer's loud laugh.

Itazura was daydreaming slightly, but she snapped right out when she saw Cici being harassed. Usually, she wouldn't care and woul just watch the victim's struggle with amusement, but for some reason Itazura felt anger build up in her. She stood up and walked to the man, her shadow flickering with every step just like the flame of rage growing in her soul. When she stood in front of the man, her shadow instantly lashed out and pierced the table behind the man, merely an inch away from impailing the man's neck.

"Let her go, or next time I won't purposly miss." Itazura threatened with a low growl.

The man slowly turned his head towards Itazura and released Cecilia, throwing her to the ground.
"Heh. I wasn't even going to hurt her, I was just so lonely. Whatever. You can have her." he spat in disgust, wobbling out of the pub.

"I-Itazura... Thank you...!" she said, picking herself off the floor. A sudden stinging on her hand drew her attention, where a cut was openly bleeding on her palm.

"Must've gotten it when I fell onto the glass..." she mumbled. She licked her wound briefly before turning to see her boss and the owner of the pub, Miss Yukie, storming from the back of the building.

"What's going on now...? Did you screw up again, Cici?" she growled at the half-breed, inspecting the broken mess and the other flustered customers.

"...I'm sorry! It was a mistake! I promise I won't have anything happen like that again... Probably!" she cried, bowing low and staring at the polished wooden floor in discomfort.

Yukie shook her head with disappointment. "...You say that every time, Cici. I'm going to have to let you go. You're an excellent worker, but things always seem to get broken and wild when you're around. After you clean up this mess, please leave soon. You'll probably end up screwing even more crap up if you stay any longer." Yukie turned and left back into her office after that, leaving Cecilia and her demon friend.

"... Damn. Another job... gone. Oh well..." she said, laughing with disappointment after she had cleaned up the glass mess. "But I'm really glad you came to my rescue, Itazura... Thank you~ Thank you so much~!" she said, tightly hugging her companion. "I just with I wasn't so worthless in those kinds of situations... Oh... let's leave, okay?" she said, releasing her from the hug and walking out of the pub.

Itazura said nothing during the time, there was nothing she could say or do. If she tried to help, she would probably just make things even worse. That's the way it's always been with her, reason being that she was a merely physical manafestation of hatred. Although she enjoyed the slight bits of hate generated by the people, she felt sympathetic for Cici. Itazura followed her out of the pub and sighed, it was mostly her fault that the girl was fired.

"I'm sorry." Itazura said.

Walking out of the pub, Cecilia stretched nonchalantly, enjoying the warm sunlight. "Hmm? Oh, no, you have nothing to be sorry about~ It was gonna happen soon, anyway. For some reason I keep getting fired, no matter where I work... So I hop through villages and cities to find a little job... It'll be hard to adjust to another village so quickly, but I've done it many times before so it doesn't bother me as much as it used to."

"...The only thing bad about leaving is... I'll have to leave you, even when we've just met. It's sad, isn't it?" she said quietly as she walked beside Itazura, a sad smile on her face.

"I wonder where I should go next..."

Itazura sighed and stared at Cici's sad expression. She can probably let the half-breed live in her forest. Watching her just traveling from place to place, and having to part with the girl, it made her feel sympathy and sadness. Before, she had none of these emotions, all she cared about was becoming immortal through hatred and the Shikon Jewel. She had the jewel now, so all that's left was to generate enough hatred to feed her.

"Well, if you want, you can live where I do." Itazura offered, "It wouldn't be any trouble at all, and I would appreciate the company."

Cecilia's ears twitched lightly as she listened to Itazura.

"Live... with you? In the forest?" she said, more to herself than anyone. "Thank you~! That's very sweet of you... But... I don't really like forests... Not at all, to tell you the truth." she said, holding onto the chain attached to her neck.

"They are very... itchy. Not that I'm making excuses not to live with you or anything. But how would I make money when I can't even work in this town anymore? I'm not good at anything else other than being a waitress... I'm... pretty useless... I'd just be dead weight, just sitting inside your forest-home..." Cici said sadly, absentmindedly playing with the chain and listening to it's clinking.

"It's fine. You don't need money, just take what you can from the forest. Resources are abundant in the forest, but the mortals are to moronic to realize this. Part of the reason why I live in the forest." Itazura said, "I don't want to see you so sad, being homeless. And...I don't want to see you leave. You're too important to me."

Itazura had a faint blush on her face, which was kind of easy to see due to her pale skin. She tuned away, her reasons were a bit selfish, of course she didn't take Cici's thoughts into consideration before asking her to stay with her.

"I-I'm sorry. You don't have to live with me, you can find somewhere else if you want to." Itazura said, trying to hide her blushing face.

"I-Important...?" Cici said, surprised.

Now it was Cecilia's turn to blush. She had never remembered anyone telling her that she was important. Maybe helpful or nice, but never important.

"I-I'm not sad being homeless... But If you really feel that way... I can stay with you... It won't be forever, though... It would feel like I would be mooching off you after a while... she said bashfully, fidgeting with her chain.

"...Before we go 'home'... I need to go to the store... I need a needle and thread 'cause I ripped my clothes... Bandages would also be nice... I might as well spend the rest of my money..." she said, looking down at her throbbing palm again.

Itazura smiled, she knew that the thought was selfish but she didn't want Cici to leave. She took hold of the half-breed's hand, blushing slightly and pointing to a direction.

"If I remember correctly, the marketplace should be over there." Itazura said.

Cecilia smiled when the demon took her hand and nodded.
"All right~ Let's go, then~" she said, playfully swinging her and Itazura's linked hands back and forth.

When the two have arrived, the market was rather busy, bustling with busy buyers, sellers, and people. When Cecilia found a stall that peeked her eye, an accessory store, she dragged her companion with her.
"Oh, oh! Look here~ Aren't they cute, Itazura?" she asked happily, holding up a few hair bows and clips. "They're both really nice~ Which one do you like better?" Cici held up two hair ornaments to her pink hair, comparing the two. One was one that looked like a four-leaf clover, and the other was just a dark red bow.

Itazura said nothing as she was dragged though the village to the marketplace. She looked at the accessories and smiled slightly, they were a bit cute. When Cici asked her which one she liked better, Itazura decided the red bow.

"I'd say the bow, because green won't really fit your hair color." Itazura answered.

Wandering around the market with his friend, Lorcan, Dwin inspected some nice-looking carrots that would probably be delicious in a stew. Lorcan probably thought shopping was boring, but Dwin didn't care, seeing as he dragged him along. He probably would have followed him, anyway...

After he was finish purchasing several different vegetables, he turned and noticed a familiar-looking, pink-haired girl with another person. It looked like they were having fun...

"Ay, Lorcan. Dun't we know 'at lass o'er there?" he asked, poking Lorcan in the ribs with an elbow and then nodding in her direction. "She looks familiar enough, but I can't tell from o'er 'ere. Too far." he said openly, his accent effecting his words. "Should we go n' check ta see if its her?"

Lorcan couldn't believe that Dwin had dragged him around the stupid market all day. The only plus to this meandering about was that occasionaly he could grab a stray vegetable or fruit when the shopkeeper wasn't looking. Of course he tried to be happy about it, like he was happy about everything, but he was really starting to lose his mind from boredom.

He looked at the girl Dwin was nodding at. "She does look mighty familiar..." he said this slowly as he mulled over who she could possibly be. "I s'pose we should go 'n' see." He began to walk towards her and waved for Dwin to follow.

"The bow huh...? It's cute, too~" she said brightly, affixing it on her head. "I'll take red bow~" she said to the shopkeeper, who nodded and took her offered money.

-----
Dwin nodded and silently followed behind Lorcan, his arms full of produce. When the girl had turned to look over at them, they both seemed to recognize each other instantly.

"...Hello... Cecilia." he greeted quietly to the girl.

"...Oh! Dwin! Lorcan! It's nice to see you two~" she said, happily hugging Lorcan tightly. "Why are you two here? I didn't think you were the type that enjoys shopping, Lorcan." she asked, laughing.

"...Actually, I dragged him here. He didn't want to come in the first place..." Dwin replied, smiling slightly. "...You're shopping, I see. Who's that person with you?"

"Mmm... That's Itazura. She's my friend I'm living with now~" she said, still attached to Lorcan's waist. "I can't beleive you recognized me~ It's been so long... huh?" she said, smiling at the two.

Lorcan looked down at Cicilia, "It has indeed been a long time. In fact, I almost didn't recognize you; you're much cuter now..." He chuckled and detaced Cici's arms from his waist, "I see you're personality has stayed the same though."

He looked over at the other person, Itazura, and smiled broadly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, miss" Lorcan said in his most charming voice, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing it briefly. "I'm Lorcan, and this fellow is Dwin" He stated, jerking his thumb toward his quiet friend.

Itazura allowed her hand to be kissed. She smiled slightly and bowed before becoming expressionless again. She turned to Cici, she did look very cute and charming, and she acted like a child sometimes which was amusing.

"Yes, you are cute." Itazura said and turned back to Lorcan and Dwin, "Anways, my name is Itazura and as you can see from my strange appearance, I am a demon."

"'Much cuter now', huh?" Cecilia mumbled, giving him a half smile. "...Are you trying to say that I wasn't cute back then... huh? If you have something to say, then just say it..." she grinned, pulling on Lorcan's ear roughly. "At least Itazura thinks I'm cute..." Cici flashed a quick smile to Itazura, not letting go of her friend's ear.

Dwin gave a tiny smile at everyone's actions. The people he knew certainly were amusing. "...Hey..." he said quietly after getting his introduction from Lorcan. He said nothing more than that though, and continued to watch the others with his blank expression.

"Ita's a demon, but she's a nice demon... Even if she scares people a bit." Cecilia said brightly. Well, she was nice to Cici, at least. "Oh... but... we need to finish shopping soon, too~ What are you two gonna go?"

"I....um... didn't mean you weren't cute before... uhh" Oh great, he'd stuck his foot in his mouth; practically all the way down his throat. Lorcan supposed he shouldn't try and get it out, unless he wanted to choke even more. He decided just to forget it and move on.

"Well I'm glad to say you're the first demon I've met." He smiled broadly at Itazura again.

Lorcan glanced at Dwin, wondering why he was always so quiet when he knew so many interesting people. Throwing his arm over Dwin's shoulder, he said brightly, "Well, I'm pretty sure Dwin here has finished his shopping, so we're free to come with you ladies if you would like our company." Even though the idea of more shopping was not inviting at all, Lorcan would do it if he got to spend the day with these two beautiful ladies.

"Mmhmm... That's what I thought." Cecilia replied, still smiling. "Well... I guess it's good that I didn't change, huh? I have a golden personality~" She giggled, shifting from foot to foot.

Dwin's calm face didn't falter as he was embraced; he was used to these sorts of actions from Lorcan, anyway. "...I'm done shopping... We can follow you... If you want..." Dwin said quietly in his deadpan tone of voice.

"Ah? You wanna go shopping with me? That's fine, that's fine! Right, Itazura?" She said, smiling and turning towards the two males. "Anyway, you guys can make yourself useful and carry everything that I buy, okay?" Unfortunately, It was more of a command than a statement. "Let's go, let's go~ We're wasting time~" Cecilia grabbed Itazura's hand once again and seemingly dragged her to another market stall, expecting the others to follow.

{late post is very late D: so sorry!}

Lorcan smiled and walked after the girls, his arm still over Dwin's shoulders.
"Just try to keep everything you buy under a hundred pounds ok? I don't want to strain my back and have to stay in bed, which would be terrible 'cause it would shorten the amount of time I get to spend with you two lovely ladies." he said this playfully as he caught up with Cecilia and Itazura. He noticed a silver ring shaped like a snake with tiny emeralds for eyes on the market stall's counter. Lorcan slyly slid it into his pocket when the shop owner had his head turned.
He turned to the ladies, winked, and asked, "Anything 'ere catch your fancy? I'd be honored to get you anything that you like." He picked up a ruby pendant on a silver chain, "How 'bout this one? It'd look fantastic on either of you."

Itazura saw the man, Lorcan, steal a ring. It was not exactly hard to see it, but the mortals' had much weaker senses so it was understandable. She decided not to tell of Lorcan's theft, although Itazura also decided to keep an eye on him. He may be wanting to steal the Shikon Jewel, but there was little to worry about as it has already been swallowed by Itazura.

Snapping back to reality, Itazura looked at the pendant. The jewel on it was the exact same color of her eyes, and it probably would look nice on her. Itazura took the pendant and placed it on her neck, while she took it she whispered to Lorcan.

"Don't do anything you'll regret. My information network can know the events everywhere." Itazura whispered before smiling, "I'll be taking this pendant, I don't have any money though, so would you mind paying for me?"

It was true that her 'information network' knows anything and everything, it wasn't hard to gather the spies for her so called 'network'. Yes, shadows make the best vassals, they obey, they never complain, they get the job done, and they never have to be paid.

Lorcan was taken aback... he didn't have very much money. If he bought the necklace, he wouldn't have any money left to buy dinner. He supposed he had better pay for it though; he could probably beg Dwin for some food.

"I'd be delighted to pay for a necklace for such a beatiful lady" Lorcan acted like it was no big deal, showing a smile like always. He took a silver piece and six copper pieces out of his pocket (which was all the money he had) and gave them to the shopkeeper.

Lorcan glanced at Dwin, who knew how poor Lorcan was and was probably guessing he'd have to pay for yet another of the thief's meals.

"Well then, what shop are we going to next?" He directed this question to Cici, choosing to avoid speaking with Itazura because in truth she had somewhat frightened him, though he didn't show it.