Kuoh Town

[Apollymi]

"Of course you are..." Eira said in a manner which would make most assume she was agreeing with him. Of course, she saw his features as particularly soft and girly, but since that was the sort of thing she liked in the first place it likely wasn't anything she'd say aloud. Beyond all this she allowed herself a gentle grip on the young man for a few moments while they walked, only to have him mention this in a very strange way. "I literally always do things like this, to everyone... and no one talks," she said. Which was true enough, no one she cared about the opinion of, ever had anything negative to say about the attention she paid to her peerage. If she was being honest, she was probably one of the more affectionate people, and likely would have been that way with anyone she cared for, regardless of how she cared for them. "But I see, you're shunning me too now..." she said a pout applied to her face as she let her little fox boy go. To her knowledge he'd never had a problem with the amount of attention she paid him before now, and she had no working idea as to why it would suddenly matter now. She honestly didn't mean much of anything by it, she simply felt better while maintaining a certain amount of closeness with members of her peerage.

As the moved along in their conversation, Eira found herself nodding her agreement, to his statements about nationals. "Yeah, I know Leishi can get the job done, but I meant I'd never hear the end of it from you..." she said in a joking manner. "So, I'll make sure you stay in peak condition. So you and Leishi can sweep up and win~" she said, wholeheartedly supporting this young man's desire to excel in the sport he chose to participate in.

[Bloodedge]

"Do they not? Are you sure they don't just say things when you can't hear? Maybe... to themselves, even? I dunno," he said while casually strolling forward. Eira released him after he spoke of this hold, adding the clause that she was being shunned. To this, Izuna raised a brow. "Urusai! You know better than that by now. I was just... making an observation. Anyway, we're almost there." True to the former Youkai's words, they would very soon be approaching the place of residence for Yasukawa Takumi's parents, separate from the boy's own dwelling. En route, Izuna took the form of Takumi, prior to the lad's participation in the recent Rating Games. He was clad in Takumi's school uniform to complete the look his parents should have expected of him, and after rounding one additional corner like this, he stepped up to the front door of a modest abode. He had nothing more to say about the Soccer team's trip to the National competition, though he did have something to say in general, spoken through the voice of Takumi as he knocked on the door. "This is gonna be weird," he said. In seeing Takumi's memories, he knew how strange it would be for the boy's parents to see him arriving with a girl, no matter the reason.

[Apollymi]

"Why would I care about people who don't matter, talking about things they don't understand? To themselves or anyone else..." Eira asked, obviously it wasn't really in her general disposition to care very much about what people thought of her. If she were being honest the only people's whose opinions meant anything to her, were part of her Peerage or immediate family and literally everyone else didn't really matter. But after she let go of Izuna he seemed to have a bit more to say, mostly telling her to shut up and that he hadn't meant for his statements to be taken as shunning. A small smile spread across her face, "Ano, I wouldn't know that, I had to be sure. Stuff has been changing a lot lately and I am not sure how to feel about any of it," mentioned Eira, but she wouldn't have much if any time to elaborate on this. Soon enough, Izuna was changing forms and knocking on the door.

Eira to her credit couldn't help but notice how far this place was away from the building which was their school. It made her wonder how Takumi managed to make it to school on time. When Izuna in Takumi's form mentioned that this would be weird, Eira's left brow raised slightly. "Why exactly would it be weird?" she questioned. Wondering if they shouldn't have had this part of the conversation before arriving at the door. Too bad they wouldn't get the chance to talk it over for any longer than that moment because soon after the knock at the door it would swing open, and a woman with dark hair and large brown eyes would open it. She had about an average figure and her hair was pulled back from her face in a pony tail. She seemed to have the same general unassuming look that Takumi seemed to maintain. But instead of the normal greeting which one would have expected, like the sort they'd seen at Maiko's house, there was only one question. "Who is she?" posed as she looked over Eira with a most distrusting look. Eira to her credit managed to look a bit stunned. She'd been confronted many ways before in her life, but never had she expected this sort of reaction. 'Ano, what did Takumi do, to get this sort of reaction to coming home with a girl?'

[Bloodedge]

If Izuna intended to offer Eira any sort of response, he would not be able to at all. Takumi's mother suddenly pulled the front door open, wasting no time in even moving to it after he knocked. With the visage of Takumi, Izuna looked surprised by the sudden appearance of the woman before him, and timid when she asked for the identity of the girl in his presence. "Kaa-san... ohayou gozaimasu," he said with his right hand rising to rub the back of his head sheepishly. It was Izuna's understanding that Takumi would react this way, specifically in such an instance as this. He hadn't seen his parents since being sent across town to be closer to his new school, and he very much intended to avoid the sorts of situations which got him expelled to upset them. Wasting no further time, he went on with an explanation. "This is... I... joined the Occult Research Club at Kuoh Academy. She's... the President. The club is going on a field trip, so I thought... you should know."

[Apollymi]

Eira watched as Izuna mimicked Takumi's mannerisms and she was pleasantly surprised by how accurate it was. She didn't know what this boy had done to become so timid around his parents, but he was equally as timid around her. Given this, she had no problem waiting to be addressed again. Her eyes shifting to Takumi's mother who was all but glaring at the young woman as she clasped her hands in front of herself. 'I wonder if I wouldn't be better off hypnotizing this woman...' Eira said. It was very rare for her to feel like someone was threatening her, but there was extreme distrust and anger in this woman's face at Eira's mere presence. She could only imagine how this could potentially play out.

Izuna's reactions and explanation, seemed to make something in Takumi's mother's face shift. Her eyes narrowed. She didn't know her son was interested in the Occult, but club activities in general were good for his general well-being so she couldn't actually be mad about anything. She still felt somewhat suspicious that the young woman in charge of the club was so... attractive. Given the trouble her son had been in before, she could only see direct interactions with this young woman leading to the boy being expelled again. "You joined a club and this is the first I'm hearing of it. And this girl is the leader of it... uh-huh..." said the woman skeptically. Her eyes immediately shot over to the young woman, making Eira fight to hold off the sigh she wanted to exhale. 'I really should just hypnotize this woman...' she thought as she stared back at this woman with practiced patience and impassioned eyes. "So that means you're responsible for this group. What is an Occult Research Club? What kind of trip is it? Where are you going? How long will you be gone? Do you intend to look after him and make sure he doesn't get into any trouble while you're gone?" this series of questions left Takumi's mother's mouth and Eira managed to look surprised. She'd thought this woman was just filled with unknowable angst, but these questions were of the standard variety. Even though they were delivered with glaring intensity, Eira had no problem answering.

"Hai, I'm responsible for the group. My name is Eira Gremory and I'm a second year student at Kuoh Academy. It's nice to meet you..." she said offering the woman a small bow and continuing to answer her questions in order. "The Occult Research Club, is a group interested in the studying the potentially supernatural. It was started by my best friend, Izuna and I, when we entered high school. We thought the old school house on campus was haunted and wanted to investigate it, so they let us have it along with permission to create our own club there..." she said which was the on paper version of what the Occult Research Club did. In truth it was created as a base for Eira to house her peerage at school outside of the watchful eyes of mortals, and gave her the freedom to miss classes and other club activities in case of an emergency within the area of her control. "The trip is an adventure, meant to build camaraderie between members of the Occult Club of which there are eight total members including Takumi. Since we already know the secrets of the old school house. We are investigating a few of the supposedly haunted sites around Japan and using it as an opportunity to tour the country side and get to know each other better since a large number of the students at Kuoh only transferred in recently," Eira answered the first question and offered a smile. "As for how long we will be gone, the trip is planned for about a week, but we might need a bit more time than that, with travel constraints and a few of the more esoteric places that might require a bit more time for us to get the necessary information and experience all of the sights. A couple of the places are time locked or regionally specific, it's sort of the fun of it..." she said calmly. "And yes, I intend to look after Takumi and everyone else. No one will get into much, if any trouble on my watch, and I wouldn't allow anything which would reflect negatively upon the Occult Research Club nor Kuoh Academy," Eira finished up. "We would just appreciate it if he could come along. It'd be good for everyone to get a chance to get to know him, since he's our newest addition. And he's the only one who didn't already have permission so I thought to come along and answer any questions you might have." she said. Eira in this moment, seemed to sound like her normal protective self. She didn't know what kind of trouble, Takumi's mother thought he could get into, but she wouldn't allow anything truly horrid to happen on her watch. Even the ever troublesome Maiko managed to stay more out of trouble than she had previously. After she spoke Takumi's mother's gaze shifted back to what she thought was him, she was studying him in this moment, before her glare returned to Eira. Eira took a deep breath waiting to see what Izuna would say or do, while she seriously gave thought to simply changing the woman's mind. But, if she could get away with simply convincing the woman that she had no ill-intentions for her son, she'd settle for that without use of her abilities.

[Bloodedge]

"H-hai," he said regarding Eira's position as leader of the club Takumi joined. The fresh Devil's mother went on to question many things related to the club and their alleged field trip, but Eira was content to answer these in sequence, so Izuna didn't have to deal with the awkwardness that would have been Takumi's responses. This did, however, leave him silently awaiting the end of an exchange between Eira and Takumi's mother. He expected words from the older woman after Eira's explanations, but what came instead was a stare at the image of Takumi being presented by Izuna. 'Kuso. Why does this kid have to be so damn awkward about everything? I was never like this with my mom,' Izuna thought.

There had to be something he could come forward with. He found himself fishing in his own mind for a reaction befitting of Takumi, and in the end... he resorted to himself as a scapegoat. "Eto... It should be fun. Kagimi-senpai has been helping me get adjusted to the school, and he says making a bond with the rest of the club will help me get over the past. I'd... really like to go."

[Apollymi]

After several moments of glaring the Izuna/Takumi managed to say something. Eira's eyes widened and her left brow rose, as it was mentioned that Izuna was helping him adjust to school and thought the trip would be good for him. And to Eira's surprise his mother seemed to remain stern for only a few more seconds before she sighed. "Kagimi?" she asked seeming to find this name to be one which required a bit more explanation. Eira had no problem coming to a save for this one. "Kagimi Izuna is my friend I started the club with. He's also Vice-President of the Occult Research Club and one of the stars of the Soccer team," she said with a smile spreading across her face. "He's going to take them to Nationals~" she said calmly. Takumi's mother seemed to listen to this, along with her sons reasoning behind wanting to go, and for the first time since the pair of them had been met at the door, her face softened. "Sou ka. Well, I don't want your past following you, and if you are making friends and adjusting to school, I can't keep you from that..." she said. She had been a bit wary of her son going on a trip alone with what could have potentially been the same sort of women who'd initially gotten him into trouble. With the knowledge that he was managing to make friends of the male variety and wouldn't necessary be in a position to get into fights over the rather buxom female presently in his company she was less defensive.

Eira maintained a soft smile, rather happy that she hadn't had to hypnotize this woman at all. Just as she was feeling the full strength of this relief, the elder woman's gaze was back upon her. "You'll make sure he brings us back some nice souvenirs right?" she said to Eira which made the girl look surprised and then simply nod and smile. "Hai hai, I'll help him find something nice for you~" she said seemingly fine with this. Eira was quite prone to doing such shopping herself, and had no problem collecting a few things to make Takumi's trip realistic. At this point, she was considering having the trip in reality at a later time so that they could really make the memories together. Takumi's mother nodded her gaze less penetrating than it'd been before. "That's fine, then. Enjoy your trip, and when you come back, I'll make your favorite dinner for you..." she offered Takumi, while opening her arms to hug her son. She figured this boy should be on his way back to his own apartment to pack, and beyond that, she hadn't actually been cooking much without him in their dwelling. And she wasn't a cold woman, simply she'd been wary of the female this boy was with, and his reasoning for showing up at her house. She had to have a bit of faith that nothing as bad as what had happened previously would occur again. And as far as she could tell, her son's mild-mannered behavior was still at the forefront of his being. Thinking of a future visit would give her a reason to prepare something nice for her family, and even more reason to be hopeful. With this in mind she'd be content to let the boy go. "Off you go then. You have your permission... be good." she said to the boy. "And it was nice meeting you..." she managed for Eira which made the girl smile. "It was nice meeting you too~" the crimson haired lass said stepping back a few paces, to begin their journey away.

[Bloodedge]

"Hai. He's acting as my personal guide until I get adjusted to new life," spoke the voice of Takumi. He was otherwise silent, reacting only when the mother offered her permission for the trip, with open arms. Without a moment of hesitation, he stepped forward to hug this woman. Izuna felt nothing of this, and frankly would have rather avoided it, but he had to keep up appearances. "Arigatou, Kaa-san. Ja," he said. With that, he squeezed the woman gently before letting go, and being on his way. He continued onward from there to a distance where he felt safe taking his own form again. Once he was wearing his own face, he sighed. Being Takumi was not nearly as annoying as being the councilor, but it was more awkward than most things he'd ever done. "He better wake up at some point. I don't really like the idea of being him a second time just to tell his mom he's alright."

[Apollymi]

With the fake Takumi agreeing to have his trip Eira and the boy were soon leaving the Yasukawa residence. It was seemingly only a minor inconvenience to their day. Soon enough, Izuna was wearing his own face again, and commenting that he didn't wish to take the boy's form again, just to speak with his mother. A chuckle came from Eira as she nudged this young man. "Ara, I thought you did well, and it'd get you that human dinner you were on about~" she said in a manner most teasing. "But he'll likely wake up eventually so it shouldn't be a problem. We'll look after him," she finished feeling sternly about this. "To be honest, I am just really happy I didn't have to hypnotize her. I'd been considering it since we'd first arrived..." she said stilling finding the overall interaction to be strange considering the types of relationships she normally saw play out between children and their parents. There was something strange about Takumi she didn't know, and now she at least had a bit of the drive to look into a bit more. "Arigatou, Izuna, for looking after Takumi," she offered the young man earnestly. She knew that though he was definitely the type to talk himself up, she could trust that he'd actually been looking in on their newest acquisition, in a way that Eira herself couldn't because of the strangeness the lad presented with.

[Bloodedge]

Izuna continued walking on a clear path toward Eira's home. En route, he received a nudge for his apparent distaste of taking the role of Takumi. This was of course nothing which bothered him too greatly; it wasn't that he outright refused to act as the lad if the need arose. It was simply a fact that it was not his preference to act as either of the two people he'd disguised himself as today. It seemed Eira also had her preferences, which managed to fall in line with their most recent interaction. "You were gonna hypnotize her? That would have made you lose the race~" he said, suddenly bringing back his own mental battle between Eira and Miyuki, regarding the peerage's recent acquisition. As for Takumi himself, Izuna truly saw himself taking on the role of 'senpai' as it were, considering many things he knew, and the strangeness surrounding Takumi and women. "Yeah... I'll keep an eye on the kid... make sure everything's alright."

[Apollymi]

"Don't say it like that..." Eira managed seeming just the slightest bit outraged. "I don't generally like hypnotizing people, or using those powers... I am not really not used to out right suspicion from people. I considered I might have to make an abnormal decision under pressure again," she clarified, knowing that moments of indecision around things, and feeling strangely about situations was what led to her creation of Takumi as her pawn in the first place. On the matter of some invisible race between herself and apparently Miyuki, Eira could do nothing but shrug. "I don't actually care about any of that, as long as he's going to be alright. I'm fine," she said, though she admittedly felt strangely about justifying herself in such a way. Normally she didn't bother acknowledging such things at all. To be honest her peerage had recently become very good at pressing her buttons, even when she didn't know there were buttons to press. Takumi himself seemed to be such an individual. Even so, as they approached Eira's apartment, she was told that Izuna would continue looking after her newest acquisition, and that gave the crimson haired young woman a great deal of relief.

"That's great! Izuna you're the best!~" chimed Eira offering this young man a hug. She truly didn't know what she'd do without this young man at her side. Even so, she couldn't help her own curiosity about the situation, given this, it would likely be the case that she left Takumi's acclimation to Izuna and found out the other things from a more direct source. His mother's reaction to Eira's presence, let her know that whatever had happened with Takumi, it likely had something to do with him and women in his previous schooling. Since Izuna was acting as his confidant, she wouldn't ask him to betray the lad's trust, anything she found out would have to be either directly from Takumi, unlikely or from another source. As she thought this way she'd squeeze Izuna a bit tighter knowing that he likely wouldn't be staying with her tonight, though she'd invited the entire peerage to stay as she always did.

[Bloodedge]

"Uh-huh..." said Izuna. He had no further comments about the spur-of-the-moment decisions made by Eira as of late, whether he had his own opinion of them or not. At the very least, Eira was content to appreciate his choice in taking on Takumi as a ward of sorts - something he intended to do regardless. Even as she hugged/squeezed him, he continued walking with a simple arm thrown around the female Devil's shoulder. Soon enough, they were upon the apartment they were meant to reach, and Izuna was letting go. "Anyway... I'm headed home. I've got practice early tomorrow. Gotta keep these guys at the top of their game, y'know? Ja ne," he said, taking his leave of Eira soon after.

[Apollymi]

Eira seemed to be allowed to wallow in her random decision making in peace, which was quite surprising. Even so, she knew their little trip was soon coming to an end, and as they came to a stop in front of her apartment, Izuna mentioned going home to prepare for soccer practice the next day. A chuckle escaped Eira, because although she knew the boy took his sport seriously, she was always more than a bit bemused that he didn't simply wish to live with her. She wouldn't go against his wishes in this case, but it was by far the strangest of her arrangements considering Izuna's life as her Queen. "Oh fine. I definitely invited you to stay like everyone else, but if you want to leave me..." she said pouting in a playful way. "I won't argue~" she finished offering a final squeeze before separating herself from him. "Gambatte, Izuna~ Have a nice night, and thanks again~" she chimed leaving to head into her apartment. Of course that thanks covered a large variety of things, including his participation in the earlier Rating Game, his general help with managing her Peerages members, and his friendship, afforded to her in all of its instigation based goodness. This would leave Eira's night to progress as normal into the next day, members of her peerage would come and go from her household seemingly without real restriction. For as long as was necessary to excuse the absence of a singular member of her Peerage who was acutely unconscious carrying on about her day, aside from caring for him.

[Bloodedge]

The Red Dragon Emperor, Takumi, certainly earned his beauty sleep over time. Just over two weeks passed from the moment he fell unconscious, to the moment he woke. The boy stirred until his eyes were open, and he immediately found himself in very foreign territory. The bed surrounding him was a great deal more massive and comfortable than any he'd ever had the pleasure of sleeping in, yet he knew not why he was in it at all. A groan escaped him as he forced himself into an upright sitting position, pressing his right hand against his face. This was normally an action Takumi used his left hand for, but something felt strange. His left arm was absolutely throbbing from elbow to fingertips. Why was this? He couldn't quite remember why, but he felt it was something major. In this groggy state of his, Takumi didn't seem to have the clarity of mind to check said arm. If he did, perhaps he would have realized his Boosted Gear was in a semi-constant state of being, much like its Twice Critical form, and the skin that showed on the arm around it bore the scales of a Dragon.

[Apollymi]

The waking of the Red Dragon Emperor, would cause the stirring of another who was sharing a bed with him. Similarly to how they first met, Eira Gremory was sleeping immediately to Takumi's left and upon feeling him stirring into proper wakefulness, woke as well. This comfortable bed, much bigger than it needed to be for even two people, was hers and in the apartment she kept as part of her cover for living in the Human World. Even so, a smile came to her face as she saw Takumi waking and she spoke to him surprisingly calmly, unable to stop herself from her usual habits she slipped her arms around the young man and gave him a gentle squeeze, her naked flesh brushing against him for only a moment. "Yare yare, you gave us quite a scare Ta-ku-mi~" she said with general sing-song tone to her voice. "Ohayou gozaimasu~" she said before letting him go. Knowing a bit too much about this lad now, she decided to dress herself by the quicker method summoning a magical circle which covered her nudity in her usual attire of a curve hugging short sleeved black dress, this look though was without its usual arm covering sleeves and shoes as she was still in bed. "You've been unconscious for two weeks, so feel free to give yourself time to adjust..." she said as she sat up ruffling bedhead out of her face. "Also don't scream..."