Muika's Cabin

The Past Catches up! Muika's Home Invasion!

"It looks like a cabin... In the woods. However the trail is leading me past it. What could be past it?" Iyuki talked quietly to himself, hiding behind some bushes and trees. The job was simple, retrieve a stolen gem worth a lot of money and get a nice cushion for his next set of travels. He was thinking out of Japan, maybe somewhere nearby with big cities. Seoul sounded nice this time of year. The nest egg from his last job was almost depleted... Thinking about his money situation, Iyuki took a deep breath and took his glasses off, the wide wispy blue trail disappearing with it. He'd examine the cabin, since it was covered in blue wisp and it was all hours old.

They had said the person with the gem was dangerous and to avoid confronting them. All they wanted was their gem back. There was no other information. He should scout before trying to get the gem.

"I'm not a cat burglar..." With a whine he tried the door, finding it unlocked. Success! With luck looking up, Iyuki decided to do a quick rummage through everything there while he could...

Muika sighed, she hadn't caught a single fish today. She'd been able to get bites but when it came to actually fishing them up, no luck. 'Should have hunted today, if I had money I'd just go buy some food...' She thought, her handmade fishing rod slung over her shoulder as she walked back home.

She stopped short though, sensing something...no, someone. Quickly, she put her rod down; moving her left wrist behind her, ready to strike if necessary as she cautiously approached the door.

They didn't seem more powerful than she was, from what she could tell just by sensing them, even if they were, she was fast and could always run until the coast was clear.

Without a sound, she opened the door, noticing the man whose back was turned to her; the only noise she made being the click of it as she shut it behind her as she had meant to do. "Who are you?"

She stood her ground in front of the door, preventing any easy escape as the window was locked.

There wasn't much in the cabin to point at its occupant, or what they did or would do with the gem. Iyuki decide he had time to give a more thorough search and found a box. Aha! Now this was something... Oh no. Oh no no no no. Ohnononnononono. Iyuki's face turned an awful shade of red as he pulled up a pair of...panties. Ladies Panties.

Choking, he stood up and turned around in horror as the door opened. There stood a girl. Obviously the owner of the panties, she looked like she could hold her own in a fight. Why did it have to be a woman? Hurried looking around saw his escape in the form of a window and he dove for it, trying to lift it with no success. "Comeoncomeon! Workworkworkwork!"

Muika stood shocked at the sight of what was in the man's hands as he dove for the window, quickly though, she shook out of it; an expression of anger on her face as she stepped forward to the struggling man before she grabbed him by the back neck of his shirt and pulled him down.

She moved to face him, moving her grip to the front of his clothing. "What brings a pervert out into the middle of the woods? Someone send you and you decide to have a little fun on your own?" That was the most logical thing she could think of, she knew there had to be a search out by Bell's Viper, or to be more accurate, Seiya Nomura, for her.

Muika could only assume this squirmy little man was one of their subordinates, albeit not a very good one...

Iyuki was almost there, the only thing standing between him and freedom was a small bit of glass. If only it would open... Suddenly yanked down, he fell to his butt with an pained oohmp, he could only stare in shock at the woman holding him. He was going to die, either from embarrassment (the lucky death) or her (the way more painful one). "P-pervert?" Iyuki looked at his hand, noticing for the first time that it still held the...was that strawberry print? panties. His face kept the red tone as he tossed them like a viper far away from him.

He couldn't deny that he was sent, but he wasn't a pervert! But women...were scary so his voice froze and he turned his head to the side. If he didn't look at her maybe he could explain. "I...gem... Odd jobs... Misunderstanding..."

It was all he could get out.

"Job?" Muika raised a brow, still not releasing him. "Who sent you? What about a gem?" The only gem she had was the gift Seiya had given her when she was young...She'd had thrown it away long ago if it wasn't the source of her power, the one thing she could use to protect herself when she needed to.

If that was the gem this man was talking about....

"Seiya. Nomura Seiya was that who sent you?" She asked, her voice harsher than before as if the name was made of venom.

"No. It was...a Lady." He was going to die. It was all going to end. This crazy girl would kill him and never think twice. Why had he taken this job? It was shady, too shady. The lady had given him a fake name, obviously fake. Something like Janu Doeh, whatever that was, and had given him half up front. How they knew about his powers and such he would never find out, since right now this girl was going to kill him...

A sense of calm came over him and he sighed, looking for the first time straight at her. "If you must kill me do it now."

Muika was silent, just glaring at the male as he explained his situation. A woman? There was still a high chance his employer was connected to Bell's Viper, who else would want this gem anyway or even really know about it.

"Tch." She released him, "I won't kill you, but whomever asked you to do this is involved with some bad stuff. I'd steer clear if I were you and stop working with them as soon as possible, or else you really will get killed."

They wouldn't take him. He was too old to be considered a subject, so at the most they would probably just kill him. Shame, this squirmy fellow seemed innocent enough...

"If you were asked to come after this." Muika moved her left hand into view, showing him the gem and chained wrapped securely around her wrist. "Then they're a proxy for Seiya, they'd have to be."

"Sorry you were mixed up with them, but I can't hand this over, hell if you want an honest answer they probably don't want the gem at all, what they want is me."

A loud gunshot echoed through the nearby area as Yamato dealt the killing blow to another demon sent by a hateful force to destroy him from being the Hayato Pet Killer. This time it was a deer, about twice its size, had been the only additional power that it was imbued with. Yamato scoffed at the unknown as uncreative this time around, but he appreciated the new carcass.

The problem was that he now needed supplies. Over in the distance, he spotted a quaint cabin, and looking abandoned he moved in closer to investigate, in hopes that he can get a new fire axe to chop down wood, maybe some matches. Starting a fire took a finesse that he wasn't quite used to, even after years of self exile. He was also tired of washing his farmer clothes by the river. Blood soaked him after he cut the demon deer's jugular, and he thought that maybe it might have some sort of bath.

As he got closer, however, he discovered the place was already inhabited. He slowly placed the deer carcass down and crept closer to the nearest window to overhear the conversation within.

"I see." Iyuki felt better almost immediately. He wasn't going to die! He also wasn't going to be held accountable for touching her panties. This was good, as he hadn't meant to. Standing up, he dusted off his coat and gave a deep bow.

"My apologies. They said you were dangerous, but it seems more is going on than I anticipated. I shall quit this job and hope they don't find you due to my greed." He kept looking at the ground, hoping his profuse apologies would be enough to salve the situation. He felt bad about the money though, and while still bowing he reached into his coat and pulled out a wallet. Taking the 400,000 yen out, he offered it in the direction the girl was last in.

"Take this, it should be yours." His meager honor wouldn't allow him to take money for a failed job, at the same time though he didn't want them getting it back. If it could help the victim here...

Muika shook her head at the offered money, "No, keep it. It'd do you best to use it for extra security...If they fine out you failed they may try to track you down. So you'll need some sort of security or protection." Not that any normal security could really stop them, she was only telling the man the truth though, she couldn't really explain everything to him. Just because he wasn't really connected to Bell's Viper didn't mean she trusted him, she didn't trust anyone to be exact.

She just didn't want the weight of a man's death on her if she could at least warn him to watch himself first.

"They're dangerous people so it would be best to get away from wherever you're staying and use that money to rent a new place or something."

She had meant to say more, but she had to stop. Something else had caught her attention, another presence. 'Could they have followed him?' It was only one person.

She motioned at the male to be quiet, putting a finger to her lips as she stood and headed for the door.

She pulled her left wrist in front of her, out of the man's view. "Who's there?" She asked, opening the door. "I know you're there."

Yamato shuffled back from the window in surprise; he thought he had been quiet enough in his approach not to be detected. He drew his rifle and holding it across so it would be ready to turn it and fire at a moment's notice. He moved closer to the double-sized deer carcass without really thinking, out of protection for what was his. He didn't want to admit it, but he was hungry and missed the taste of cooked meat, though he could do without.

He didn't also think how well he looked soaked in animal blood, for it had been a while since he had some real human contact. He also found it a bit hard to speak, since he hadn't had a conversation that wasn't the composition of war cries.

When he got a better look at Muika, he disengaged his combat ready stance and stood back from the carcass, kind of shrugging with his arms and gun that it was a peace offering. Might as well share, Yamato thought, if I'm going to make anything out of this meat in the next couple of days.

At the motion the girl gave to him, Iyuki quickly quieted before putting on his glasses. Wisps showed up in a new vibrant color, someone else was here! Had they had him followed? That would be horrible if they had, he had already put the girl in enough trouble as it was. Not moving, barely breathing, Iyuki waited until the person appeared into sight albeit barely.

He wouldn't want to get in the way, though the man was covered in blood. The girl had said to be quiet... He kept silent but watchful eye on the newcomer.

'Doesn't seem to be one of them...' She noted, mainly because of the deer and gun. 'A hunter?'

She really hoped no one else would show up, having three people with obvious presences was enough to raise some notice if anyone that could also feel presences like she could was nearby.

"You're...a hunter?" She asked, she refused to drop her guard though, she never did during any circumstance, at least, not anymore.

She wanted to ask if he'd heard anything she'd said to the other male, but if he hadn't she'd likely raise curiosity and she didn't want to do that, by doing so would involve them no matter if they tried to shrug it off or not...

Yamato slung the rifle around his back because of Muika's hesitance to drop her own guard and nodded. She wouldn't know that his hands were his primary killing tools.

"Yes, I am a hunter." Yamato replied brusquely, not having used his vocal cords for anything other than howling a battle cry in a long time. He knew in reality he the prey of the animal demons, and even after leaving a trail of dead animal bodies, that he was no hunter. Still, it was a lie good enough as any, and she didn't ask if he was animal hunter or demon hunter, so in that case he was comfortable with a lie of omission. It didn't come to Yamato's mind just how menacing he might have appeared to Muika, because blood had become such a natural pigment on his clothes. His unshaven harsh face and raggedy hair also had blotches of blood about them, and he had gotten used to his own stench.

When Yamato caught a glimpse of Iyuki along with her, he felt his judgment was correct that he was now in the company of pretty civilized people. Muika certainly looked like a lowly city girl, having a bulky hoodie that would soak like a sponge in the sweltering country sun and a mini-skirt and black leggings that would never be acceptable at church, at school, or anywhere else from the countryside he wandered from. Her pale skin suggested that she didn't take in too much sun either. Her eyes were a bit unsettling too; Yamato got interested in animal eyes ever since he was the Hayato Pet Killer. Meanwhile, Iyuki cast an image of a prim and proper gentleman in the upper echelons of modern society with the dyed purple long coat and smooth shaved face. He appeared thin, but with the coat it was hard to tell what sort of strength he had. A rich suitor maybe come to sweep her away from her life in the shack? Yamato knew it was too early to tell, but couldn't shove away the similar story from his past even after all those years. He partly regretted he wasn't able to catch any of the conversation he overheard.

Yamato cleared his throat violently because he swallowed a fly from the deer corpse. "Yamato." He then rubbed some itchy caked blood off his forehead, and remembered he needed more than just one word. "My name is Yamato." He then scratched the back of his head as though weeding it, then sighed as it appeared he would have to carry the awkward conversation forward. "I have this deer that I would be willing to trade for supplies. I can dress the meat free of charge."

Both of them looked very slightly less tense, but very confused and curious. There were new wisps appearing, like the others that had lately. The girl's wisps were darker, a color that wasn't a color, while the wild man's were a more calm one. His vocabulary had no words to describe the colors, which was why he had spent most of the time without his glasses on. It gave him a major headache trying to figure them out. It was odd to not have words for something... Iyuki pulled his glasses off, putting them gently in an inner pocket of his coat.

It needed a serious dusting off, the dirt that would inevitably get into a shack was covering the sides and butt where he had been pushed to the ground. She was strong for how small she looked. Iyuki, still lacking a name to go with the unusual face, just thought of the girl as Her. Not wanting to get in the way of someone obviously much better suited to defend herself an him in case of surprise attack by the blood covered wild man, Iyuki stood to the other side of the door. It also had a benefit of being out of the breeze that was coming into the shack, a rank unwashed breeze from the man.

As the man, now Yamato, introduced himself, Iyuki gave a small polite nod. "I am Iyuki. I would be willing to trade on behalf of this woman, however I do not have straight supplies with me. I can however go get them if needed."

He owed this girl a debt, if only for the fact that he could have potentially ruined her life due to his greed. She would have no choice, he'd pay it back somehow. Or he'd never leave.

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"Yamato."

"My name is Yamato."

"I have this deer that I would be willing to trade for supplies. I can dress the meat free of charge."

He wanted supplies, not that she really had much but she might have what he needed. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she did need some food supplies, no matter how little or how much was offered.

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"I am Iyuki. I would be willing to trade on behalf of this woman, however I do not have straight supplies with me. I can however go get them if needed."

Muika sighed, "No, you don't need to do that."

She didn't need his charity, no matter if he thought he owed her for pulling her into something dangerous or not. She'd been involved much longer than he'd been and knew how to deal with it.

"What is it you're looking for exactly? If I have it, the deal you offered is fine."

When Iyuki introduced himself and referred to the girl as 'this woman', his ideas that they were somehow together evaporated. Now it was either a relationship where both vied to be more powerful than the other, or they just met, as was the case now with him. Yamato wondered how often the abandoned looking shack was scouted for loot and how annoyed the girl might be at trying to live out of the way only to be found by strangers. It reminded Yamato why he never chose to stay in one place; he didn't want to be found, especially not by his past.

When the girl asked what he was looking for without mentioning her own name he felt kinda pissed off. It wasn't everyday he offered his name. Yamato knew that even if he could kill these people, however, it definitely would not be worth it. There was enough trouble following him as it is.

"Well let's see..." Yamato held out his hand and did his own crummy arithmetic in the open with his fingers "Medical supplies, like bandages, gauze, and rubbing alcohol, or hell just regular alcohol, some fresh water or at least a boiler so I can heat my own water, a new change of clothes and a bath."

"Still, you might have guessed that I also want this meat preserved, so I'm willing to bargain it down if you were to help me make a stew out of part of the deer, and add in a pillar of salt so I can make jerky for all of us. I could use some as rations. Oh also, your name."

He checked his figures again with his fingers and nodded, as though to affirm his own unschooled calculation.

Ignoring Muika's denial of his charge, Iyuki realized in his head that she would never let him discharge his debt. He wrung his hands, trying to find some way to get her to understand that his small pride was being wounded. He couldn't let this continue. "I refuse. I must repay her good heart for my transgressions, Sir Yamato. Allow me to buy you all that, and more if you so need. If you wish, I could get a bag to hold all such items in addition to the others, as long as you shared your deer with this woman."

Iyuki shot a pleading look to her, though it was veiled behind his bangs mostly. The man's smell was still bad, but it was becoming slowly bearable. Either that or his nose was failing him. "I can not offer her name though, as that is hers to give. She has not even deigned this unworthy one to hear it."

His words sounded so melodramatic, he wanted to cringe. It was just how he reverted when anxious...

"I have bandages and the other medical supplies you're asking for as for the water I have a few bottles you can take." Muika stated, "As for the bath, the cleanest place is the lake just down that path." She tilted her head in said direction of the path she'd just come from earlier today. Her cabin wasn't large enough to home it's own bathroom, so she tended to always either use the public baths late when no one else was around or just use the lake here. "I'm not sure about clothes, as you can we don't exactly share the same stature." Not to mention the clothes she wore on her back were practically all she did own aside from a few extra tops. "You can however use the washing bin to wash your own clothes in if you'd like. I keep salt and other spices in that crate right there." She motioned towards a crate next to her cabin, closer to Yamato than herself.

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"I refuse. I must repay her good heart for my transgressions, Sir Yamato. Allow me to buy you all that, and more if you so need. If you wish, I could get a bag to hold all such items in addition to the others, as long as you shared your deer with this woman."

"Again, no." Muika answered, "You don't need to do that."

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"I can not offer her name though, as that is hers to give. She has not even deigned this unworthy one to hear it."

"Muika." She spoke, speaking to both Yamato and Iyuki. "Muika Okura is my name."

After waiting a short moment, Muika let out another sigh before her eyes moved to look to her side where Iyuki was. "Look, if you're that serious about wanting to 'repay' me or something, I'll talk to you in a bit." When Yamato wasn't around, she hoped he understood, so that way Yamato could avoid involvement.

Yamato couldn't help but grin in good humor at Iyuki in response to his melodramatic speech; it had been way too long since had been in the company of such a nobleman. The phrase 'Sir Yamato' especially killed him, knowing that nothing about his stature indicated a man of honor.

"That would be--" replied Yamato, but he was cut off when Muika had butted in for herself again. Yamato was also surprised that Iyuki didn't even want to say Muika's name before she stated it. In response to the repayment, Yamato was now fine leaving them be with their lovers quarrel.

"Muika, Iyuki, you have yourselves a deal."

Yamato held out his dirty, bloody, thick and root-looking hand towards Iyuki first, then Muika. Whether or not they accepted the handshake was irrelevant.

"Now this deer has been dead for a short while, so I think it'd be best if I dress it right away before I wash my clothes and take a bath. Someone in the meantime can start a fire and assuming we have a pot, maybe some potatoes and that water you mentioning, we can make ourselves a stew. While the stew is cooking, I'll hammer out the jerky and salt it to keep it preserved."

With that, he knelt down and unceremoniously spread the deer like a prostitute with all four legs forcefully spread outward with enough force to break the joints of the legs before cutting down the middle to skin the beast and then rip the guts and stringy intestines out and setting them in a nice little pile with his bare hands.

Muika Okura, the name was nice, as was having something to call her other than lady or woman. At least now she was accepting his honor bound wishes. As she told him to wait to talk to him till later, Iyuki bowed low. "Yes, Lady Okura. We shall discuss the terms of my servitude."

A smelly hand ended up near his head and he got a huge wiff of it, but not wanting to seem rude Iyuki took the hand in a firm shake despite the delicate looking hands of his. He'd have to sanitize quite quickly... Who knew what was growing on that man. "It is an honor. I... can not start a fire. However I may be able to help with the potatoes or rice for stew. I am a decent cook Sir Yamato."

Looking to Okura, he pointed towards the lake. "If that is where your water comes from, let me go gather it for ourselves to wash a bit before making food. My back is at your service." With those words Iyuki took off his overcoat, folding it and setting it out of the way. He then rolled up his sleeves a bit, looking for a bucket or something. Anything to not watch the deer being gutted nearby.

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"Muika, Iyuki, you have yourselves a deal."

Muika gave a nod, moving to shake Yamato's hand -- albeit still being rather cautious about it.

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"Now this deer has been dead for a short while, so I think it'd be best if I dress it right away before I wash my clothes and take a bath. Someone in the meantime can start a fire and assuming we have a pot, maybe some potatoes and that water you mentioning, we can make ourselves a stew. While the stew is cooking, I'll hammer out the jerky and salt it to keep it preserved."

After saying that, Yamato began to gut the deer and prepare it for cooking. The gorey scene before them phased Muika about little, seeing something like that was practically equivalent to watching paint dry on a wall to her.

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"Yes, Lady Okura. We shall discuss the terms of my servitude."

"It is an honor. I... can not start a fire. However I may be able to help with the potatoes or rice for stew. I am a decent cook Sir Yamato."

"If that is where your water comes from, let me go gather it for ourselves to wash a bit before making food. My back is at your service."

However, the formal title Iyuki had spilled out towards her did hold some shock value.

'W...Huh!?'

"Wh-" She mouthed, but before she had the chance to get anything out, Iyuki started his task of gathering water.

Inaudibly sighing, Muika turned. "I'll start the fire then."

There was a small space she used for making fires, just a few feet away from the cabin itself. Moving there, she began gathering new pieces of wood and putting them where previous fires had once been made. She wasn't exactly a good cook, in fact, she was terrible, so this spot was scarcely used when she could help it.

When Iyuki shook Yamato's hand, Yamato was pleased by the firmness of his grip. It wasn't limp as he expected. While this man was gentleman-like, he seemed like someone who could hold his ground in a fight; the strength of his grip proved that. His hands were delicate, almost like Nen's, and he wondered how he got so strong when he appeared he never labored in his life.

When Iyuki told him he was a decent cook, Yamato felt inclined to believe it. However, when he called him Sir Yamato again, Yamato replied "Plain and simple 'Yamato' is fine, Iyuki."

Yamato did catch a glimpse of caution in her eyes when she moved her hand to shake, again from the practice in observing animal eyes that changed through various emotions when he had them in his unholy grasp as the Hayato Pet Killer, but did not have enough insight to really conclude anything further than that. Yamato squeezed the fingers of Muika's hand for about a second and moved to gut the deer.

Iyuki had elected to fetch the water, which was fine by Yamato, and at the corner of his eye, he could see Muika observe him for a short while until she got bored and started making a fire. When Yamato got the bulk of the guts removed with his hands and knife, he got a simple wooden slab from the shack and started to carve steaks from the carcass. Sometimes he would use his hand to rip off chucks between the ribcage; those he set aside in a different pile to be used as jerky.

Yamato didn't know how big the pieces should be for the stew, so he would wait until Iyuki got back and then they could decide how much meat they should use for the stew and how much they should use for the jerky. It had been a lengthy and frustrating process, lasting longer than the amount of time it would take Iyuki to fetch the water.