Better than I was Yesterday [Yaju, Team 4]

Quite honestly, Aieu and Reika's partnership wasn't such a bigass deal to them as many new relationships were to humans. Humans being a much softer breed of creature, they considered every new bond in the light of nuance and excitement. The human element had far from dissipated from Reika's being, but it had never truly existed in fullness from the beginning. Being on the road for the more formative years of your life did that to you, but being on the road with her family made her extremely appreciative of her close bonds once they were formed. The forming of them, however, brought out her more canine reactions. In the way that seeing a family member you had seen seemingly only hours before is a generous occasion, it is also not one to be overly celebrated. It is also the feline instinct that had already found its way within her, as much from her time in the wilds of the world as from her short adventures of the city with her feline companions, and caused her to not encourage excitement over anything unduly. Such things had really been part of her personality for as long as she could recall her own name. That being said, these and other expressed catlike effects were already beginning to come to the surface. Such things were emerging with each new step she took toward her new home with Yaju.

But, their conversation before they left the disheveled building was worth noting. "And cats aren't my favorite species either, but its nice to meet you," came Yaju's reply to Aieu's remark. She could feel Aieu shift on her shoulder, almost as if searching his pelt for words, but he replied simply, "Charmed" and it seemed that the subject was pushed aside... At least, for the time being it was. The authenticity of such a statement could easily be disputed and she thought, offhandedly, to scold Aieu for it later, but Yaju continued, "Reika, if you are done with your business here we can leave for my place....unless there was something you needed to do?" She shook her head gently so as not to disturb Aieu in his silent contemplation, almost being able to hear the thoughts whirling through his thick skull. "I'm sure I will need to return here soon, but we can go for now." She considered mentioning that she now owed a significant debt to Hedo for the honor of the partnership he blessed with his goodwill, but she thought decidedly that she'd cross (and perhaps burn) that bridge when she came to it. Shortly, they set off for Yaju's dwelling with her pace set just to the right of his. Aieu rode on her shoulders for the length of the trip, observing the odd gazes the villagers gave the two of them as they strode proudly through the town. Curiously, while Aieu seemed troubled by the lack of acceptance, it gave Reika endless globules of satisfaction.

Soon, they entered the mountainous region that surrounded Kumogakure which wafted the frostbitten air around her and Aieu with a joyous whistle that seemed to transcend the boundaries of all but the tallest mountaintops. She observed the various plant species as they walked by, telling by the genus of each at what altitude they were ascending to and in which direction they were traveling. Of every notable medicinal herb she saw, she made a mental note as they grew closer to their destination. You never knew when you would need to treat someone, and that someone may even be yourself. A nearby rock face caught her attention; the odd shape of it made her draw a detailed mental picture in her mind, seemingly without registering the occurrence, but soon they were at the entrance to a decent-sized cave. She blinked into the darkened space, her eyes attempting to adjust and make observations in all directions. She and her partner continued almost even with Yaju, silent. Suddenly, Aieu mewed quietly, "There's a house just to the right of here." Sure enough, a house emerged from the cave recesses a decent amount of yards from where they stood once her eyes focused a bit more and caught sight of it. On their approach, the door ajar, Yaju stood in the doorway, inviting them in, "This is where I stay and for the next, well, until you learn and master the technique, this will be your home as well," His smile was welcoming, the same as his smile during the bout of training they just had, which made her feel more welcome than she had felt in the village since she had arrived. Aieu, of course, took the initiative before she had gotten the chance to and hopped down from her shoulders and strode pridefully into the open doorway.

Admitting lightly, Aieu spoke, "I've never thought about living in a cave, but I think I'll quite like it here. Bats should be a fun challenge to catch." She smirked down at the black cat as she entered the domain as well, flinging her eyes around the room to deduce some small amount of information about Yaju and the way his lived out his days here. Looking down at the small cat's form, she flashed her white canines and said, "I agree. Village life was never my setting. I grew up in the mountains, so it's fitting that I would live there, if only temporarily." She then threw her flash of a smile up at Yaju as she thanked him, saying, "Thank you for letting us study here with you, Yaju-Sensei. It should be a great honor for both of us." With the emphasis of them both, she switched her eyes quickly to Aieu, which he saw and dismissed with the flick of his tail, which she guessed to be his only response. Making a resolve to confront him later about his respect, she turned back to Yaju and continued to smile in gratitude.

[WC: 995]

" Well for the post part you will be staying here in the house, the cave more or less is off limits except for a few parts of which i will be taking you for your studying. For now i will show you where you two will be staying," Yaju would say as he walked up to the stairs and motioned for the two to follow. Going up the stairs he would walk past numerous doors or two to be exact before stopping at the last set of two doors in which he would point to the first one," That is the master bedroom and my residence, the room to your back is your room which is almost as big as mind, and has a bathroom already built inside of it. If you actually want to swim, go out of the back door in the kitchen and continue walking until you basically see a glowing pool of water, do not worry it is completely safe. With that make yourself comfortable and meet me downstairs for dinner," with that he walked off into his room where he would take a pill that would return him back to normal or rather a normal male.

Walking out of his room in essentially the same outfit except for a shirt he would go to cooking before finishing their dinner fifteen minutes later. If Reika was still in her room, he would call up to her to let her know that dinner was ready, and he would sit down on the couch and drink a little of the orange drink that had been sitting on the table. Of course he was more at home here so he would hope Reika got used to the lifestyle here soon, although the only lifestyle he had was a chilled and relax one.

“Well, for the post part, you will be staying here in the house. The cave, more or less, is off limits except for a few parts of which I will be taking you for your studying. For now, I will show you where you two will be staying,"
 
The limits Yaju had set on her already upset her. She wasn’t allowed to go explore? Lame. As if on the same thought, she and Aieu turned to each other with wicked eyes, and she knew they were thinking the same thing, Challenge Accepted. And so it was that they made plans to disobey Yaju’s orders explicitly over their already growing mental link.
 
Meanwhile, her feet were busy following Yaju up to his room and, consequently, her own room. It was… roomy. She noticed that the two rooms were approximately the same size, but she wouldn’t expect anything less from Yaju. Although it was not ornately decorated or overly-well lit, she was extremely satisfied. Decorating and creating her own style in the room was something she began to look forward to as Yaju continued, “If you actually want to swim, go out of the back door in the kitchen and continue walking until you basically see a glowing pool of water.” Her ears pricked. “Do not worry, it is completely safe. With that, make yourself comfortable and meet me downstairs for dinner," he finished. She nodded in response and began exploring the recesses of the room. Peering in drawers and looking behind doors as well as making a floorplan in her head of what she wanted the room to look like took up most of the half hour before dinner. Yaju called up to her, she smiled, replying, “Be right down!” Aieu hopped from the seat he had taken on her new bed onto her shoulders as she glided out of the room and down into the kitchen to be with Yaju.
 
She would sit where Yaju would indicate they should, Aieu still displaying himself proudly on her shoulders. A thought crossed her mind that she should address their future training together.
 
“So, Yaju, what are your plans regarding my training?”
 

[Word Count: 360]
[OOC: So sorry! Life is crazy, yo.]

When Reika had came downstairs to sit with him for dinner he would smile and pat the spot beside him, taking a sip of his drink he would sit it down and smile to her," all of the food is on the table if you want to eat now and talk later, or if you want to ask me anything you can go ahead and do so as well," although he already knew that she would ask questions for she was such an intuitive and smart young woman. Just as he was about to bring up another point she had asked him what he would do about her training in which he would smile and shift himself on the couch," Well if you want to after today we can immediately start on the physical aspects of the training which would be you and your....companion there against me and my summon Rayearth, but i want you to get accustomed to your new home so we will not be doing anything until a couple of days from now. I may be your sensei but i am not a slave driver so letting you have some time to get acquainted to your new surroundings. Do you have any other questions my dear or would you like to get into the dinner portion and go for a walk around the caves," he said with a smile.

If she had no further questions at the moment he would smile and grab one of the bowls on the table while grabbing his chopsticks and began to eat slowly, allowing Reika to enjoy her food. What no one knew was that Yaju had a great aptitude for cooking and it showed in his cooking. Glancing over to her every now and again he would smile," So Reika, do you have a significant other out there or do you tend to stay to yourself? I couldn't see someone like you just not having any suitors trying to get your hand," chuckling slightly he would set his now empty bowl down and engage in conversation if she wanted to.