Kuoh Town

[Bloodedge]

The paw on his face resulted in Takumi waking within a matter of seconds. The moment his eyes opened, he shed a few tears he had no explanation for. Of course, this was far from a first experience for the young man. He often had dreams of a past he could scarcely remember more than a few blurry images from, and it seemed this night had produced such a dream. A surprised expression was painted on his face as he looked at the cat on his chest. "Chikushou..." he muttered while carefully rising into a seated position. He didn't have the same headache he had the previous night, but his hand grasped his head just the same. "Why... can't I ever remember?" he wondered aloud. Something within him knew this repeating dream was important somehow, but he could never figure out why since he couldn't remember it at all. "Ugh. Screw it; it probably doesn't matter."

[Apollymi]

The paw of Reia seemed to wake Takumi well enough but his waking wasn't a peaceful one. There were tears in his eyes and after working himself into a proper sitting position he even claimed he never remembered what was going on in those dreams. The kitten which had been on his chest, continued purring, never letting go of his person and instead climbing up onto his shoulder to burrow itself into his neck, offering unadulterated affection in the fact of his sadness. 'You don't remember because you don't want to... you need a strong will to remember what you want,' thought this cat, even without saying that the purr was the same it was here she was here to gently feed off this boy and bond with him without causing him stress. At the very least, Eira now at least partly understood the kind of mental stress her presence caused this lad, and the more she learned of this picture, the more she realized she'd ruined him unintentionally. 'I have to fix this,' she concluded and there was only one person she could even ask about such a thing.

[Bloodedge]

The kitten's movements were quite meaningless to Takumi at this point. Instead, his concern went out to the current time, which he checked by setting his gaze on the clock beside his bed. In looking at it, he was able to virtually plan out the first quarter of his day just because of how early it was. '6:42. I could get the shopping out of the way now, I guess,' he thought. Without further ado, Takumi sighed and extricated himself from the bed while brushing off the cat so randomly connected to him. He would go on to bathe himself before heading out into town, aiming to fill his fridge with food, and his house... apparently with cat-related items for his new 'pet'.

[Apollymi]

The kitten was soon brushed off and watched as the boy moved about, eventually leaving his apartment with her locked inside. This kitten could of course leave at any point in time, but she imagined this wouldn't be good for the lad's already strained psyche. For the time being, she supposed she could pace and wait. As such she did exactly that. This small kitten acted in a very cat like manner exploring all corners of this apartment and getting familiar with its layout that she might be able to sneak in and out without Takumi noticing when she left. 'I can't leave him again... hell I never wanted to leave him in the first place,' she thought to herself. 'How was I supposed to know he'd eventually break down to the point of dying... I never wanted him to die for me. I just wanted him to find happiness and be sure,' she thought as she paced round the house. Until very recently she'd been thinking that people didn't really know what they wanted in relation to her, perhaps... Shouki was the first person to receive such treatment from her. The static build up in this little kitten was likely ridiculous but she was just living her life as a house cat so she might as well enjoy it. As such she eventually found herself sitting in the window of this lad's apartment watching everyone on their morning routines walk by waiting for Takumi's return.

[Bloodedge]

Roughly twenty minutes after Takumi's departure, he stepped out of a store a few blocks down the street from his apartment. He carried three plastic bags in his left hand, and two in his right hand. He seemed to be just as deep in thought as he had been before going out, but now was the time to return. 'I can't afford cat food. She'll just have to eat like I do. Good thing I like fish, I guess,' he found himself thinking as he approached, and stopped at, a crosswalk.

[Apollymi]

At the crosswalk beside Takumi as he remained deep in thought, there was another just beside him. This young woman had white hair atop her head, and vibrant red eyes. She also seemed to be deeply contemplative, but if one cared to notice she'd basically just appeared beside Takumi. Her cream colored jacket blew in the wind as she took a moment to briefly inspect the contents of his bag. "Hm, a bag full of cat toys and a bunch of fish. You just spent all your money on something not for you... One has to wonder if devils have always been this selfless," she questioned rather astutely. "Well, I guess you're a dragon too, but the one you are isn't really selfless either," she mused. Another voice would be heard and this one be strangely male and not directed at Takumi. "Red One, hasashiburi."

[Bloodedge]

As Takumi awaited an opening to cross the street, a voice met his ear. This was in no way familiar to him, but the female voice spoke with some level of familiarity. He turned his head to look at the girl who so suddenly appeared here, wondering what she was supposed to be and how she knew so much about his existence. "Do I... know you?" he asked. There was something ever so slightly familiar about this girl. As far as he knew for certain though, he'd never seen this person in his life. However, there was another exchange dictating a connection between another pair in this same meeting. Ddraig stirred, speaking after being addressed through the gem on Takumi's hand. "White One... I didn't expect to meet you again so soon."

[Apollymi]

The presence of this white haired young woman was met by confusion. Takumi asked this lass if he knew her and she could only look at him with mild understanding on her face. "You really don't remember then," she stated, knowing the lad's trauma probably affected how he remembered the events of more than a week prior to this one. "Well that is probably for the best." these words came from the young woman who stood with her right hand tucked under her chin, though this action usually came with a white wing wrapped around her person, they were standing at a crosswalk and thus it could not be done. "We are classmates, my name is Cassiel Angelus... you can call me Cassie," she mentioned as if it was normal to appear beside someone and start a conversation in the middle of the morning. "I am the bearer of the Vanishing Dragon's Light Wings. The second Heavenly Dragon. Yoroshiku."

This conversation was likely a strange one to Takumi but the dragon known as Albion seemed to take in stride that which his current partner did. "This new partner of mine... has some very different ideas about the world. And because of that... here I am," mentioned Albion who spoke to Ddraig as if the pair were on friendly terms, more so than most of the other dragons who'd encountered them so far.

[Bloodedge]

There was something Takumi apparently didn't remember, but this girl claimed that was for the best. Whatever it was, he attributed it to any prior knowledge he had of her. He seemed to have forgotten a lot of things that he couldn't quite remember the importance of. "Cassie... Angelus," he repeated, indeed finding some familiar tone in her name. More importantly, Cassiel explained her identity as the holder of the Vanishing Dragon, cementing the idea Takumi already had that it was another dragon presently speaking with Ddraig. "Heavenly Dragon?"

"I never got to explain, Partner," Ddraig spoke, choosing now to clear up a few things he'd been neglecting due to his current host's other issues. "That there is the White Dragon of Supremacy, Albion. Since ancient times in the wake of the battle we had that brought every faction against us, those who hold the Sacred Gears we were sealed in have been destroying themselves to destroy each other. It's destiny for you two to fight through us."

[Apollymi]

Ddraig's words to Takumi were an explanation of what the Heavenly Dragons were. It seemed that Takumi was missing a lot of information, but given what he'd already been through, it didn't surprise her that the lad didn't know much about her or anything concerning Albion. "There is no justice in destruction for the sake of it," these were the words of Cassie pure and simple. They strangely didn't stop here, no, there was much more to be said by this young woman about the nature of their battle. "There is even less justice in destroying one who would so readily destroy himself." These words might have seemed harsh but there was something of a light in this Miracle Child's eye. "But, I've been watching you, Red Dragon Emperor, and I've seen you trying to find your justice. So, I am going to show you what it looks like!" she said. These weren't the words of a straight up fight, nor those of the kind of destructive history that Ddraig's words would have led one to believe existed between the pair of them. No, these were the words of a girl, who'd determined by her own observation, that this young man was one of the same kind of justice she found in herself, and she wanted to help him find the means to use it properly. And in the long term protect everyone else from his potential rampages. "But... you can drop off your groceries first. I'm not rude..." she mused.

The White Dragon chuckled from within this girl's body. "Sorry Red One, it's a new day. And it seems like her ideal Supremacy is very different from the others... but this life seems like it's going to be an interesting one for us," mentioned Albion who seemed to have less problem with the attitude of the child he was partnered with currently than one would have been led to believe.

[Bloodedge]

This girl who spoke as if she knew more about him than he sometimes knew about himself seemed to have solid ideals of what was just, and what was not. Just the same, she had some intention of guiding him on the path to his own sense of justice, which Takumi didn't think he had in the first place. Whatever she wanted with him, she made it seem quite selfless. She even gave him an opportunity to leave his groceries behind, which he wouldn't have expected from such an open, seemingly not very optional, offer. With the way Cassiel proposed this, how could he refuse? Without a word, he crossed the street and made his way home, assuming Cassiel would be accompanying him all the way. He entered his apartment while gesturing for the girl to follow. "Have a seat. I'll be a minute," he said, needing to take a few moments to put away his recent purchases.

[Apollymi]

It seemed that Takumi was amenable to whatever idea that Cassiel put forward. As such she had no problem following him to his apartment. When they walked up to it, she saw in the window a small white cat staring out into the distance. Even so, there was something quite strange about the animal which made her left brow raise in surprise. 'That is Cassie... is Takumi making friends?' the kitten wondered seemingly pleased but there was a problem this small cat creature fully acknowledged. Especially as this other dragon entered the room. "Hai hai..." was the only offering of the Miracle Child who went on to have a seat in the living area of the lad's house. Up close this small kitten jumped down from the window and jumped back up onto the coffee table sitting directly across from the young woman. Cassie's senses were much too good for her not to realize what this cat was or rather who. As she sat on this couch her mouth opened to speak on the strangeness of this situation. "This cat is..." whatever the sentence was it stopped because the kitten jumped again this time placing a paw atop the woman as if to stop her speech on purpose. As she looked at the cat from so short range, she could be sure, sure of the intelligence of this creature not being at all related to being an animal. "Kawaii..." she hadn't told a lie in this but she simply didn't know the situation which would create the necessity of such an arrangement. Beyond this the cat which hadn't made a single sound, made one now before starting to purr. Such a truly animal like reaction made the white haired girl pet the top of this cat's head while it propped itself up on her lap with a single paw, all of this while Takumi put away his groceries.

[Bloodedge]

Takumi first went into the kitchen to put away his groceries, bar a serving of salmon which he began to season and cook on the spot. As it was simmering, he returned to the living room and laid out a scratching post in the empty area of the room previously addressed by Maiko. Nearby, he set up a cat bed with toys placed on the floor around it. He did this in a timely enough manner that he was able to return to his fish pan and check the skin on the salmon. "She came in yesterday. She reminds me of someone, so I decided to keep her," he said to the white-haired girl. Before plating the salmon he had almost finished preparing, he had one more thing to say to this person. "Are you hungry? I have extra. There was a sale today."

[Apollymi]

The empty corner of the lad's apartment was soon given a strange treatment. Firstly, he started cooking. It was very easy for this little kitten to forget that she enjoyed food, until this lad was cooking for her. Reia sniffed the air and mewed under the attention of the Miracle Child. Still there were far weirder things that had been done. 'I wonder why she chose to go along with this...' mused the cat. The rest of the apartment was made complete by the addition of cat related products, including a bed, toys and a scratching post. Reia's eyes widened and the cat settled down into the lap of the Miracle Child for now. Takumi's words about the kitten seemed to be found funny by the white haired girl, for reasons the lad would probably never know. "Hahahaha~ You took in a cat because it reminds you of someone?" she asked most rhetorically. "What did you name her?" she questioned more specifically. Beyond that there was the fact that this young man went on to offer her breakfast, claiming of course that the food had been on sale. "You have been told we are basically mortal enemies. We likely are technically in more ways than you presently realize. The thought that you would still feed me, makes me question everything I know," there was a pause in her speech and a gentle smile came to her face. "Iie, I already had breakfast... thank you though," she said calmly. Her eyes moved to the surprisingly attentive kitten and she looked at her with the clear version of the eyes she'd seen a week prior so full of emotion. 'Sou ka, that's why...' she mused mentally, supposing that there was only so much that one could change about themselves.

[Bloodedge]

"Ou," he said about why he had the cat in his apartment. If this weren't the case, he likely would have still kept it. The person he owed rent to would likely take issue with this, but Takumi hadn't actually considered the problem. "Her name is Reia." In a matter of moments, he was done cooking. Since Cassiel claimed she wasn't hungry, he took care of the cleanup while letting the salmon cool a bit. Once that was out of the way, he returned to the living area and placed the plate of fish meat on the floor for the cat's enjoyment at her leisure. "Ddraig and Albion are mortal enemies. I don't have anything to do with that," was his only comment to the matter of the potential conflict between himself and Cassiel. He had enough issues of his own to deal with; he wouldn't be dragged into an age-old war between these two dragons without his own reasons to participate. "So, you wanted to show me something?"