Emotional Chains

Hakkyou yawned from her nap spot on a rooftop, utterly bored. She could control the village with her mere thoughts, altering their emotions in a heartbeat. Whether fights or love was what she wanted to see, she could easily get it.

But right now she had no interest in them, because it would just be the same things, over and over again... she sighed. "I wish something interesting would happen for once..." She hopped down from the roof, completely ignoring the human's surprise. They were inconsequential.

Hakkyou looked down at the girl, wondering who she was. As for her question, she laughed it off.

"Maybe for a human, but we youkai are made of sterner stuff."

Truth be told, she had had some painful falls, ones that almost made her wish she were wearing shoes just so her feet would stop screaming in pain, but once she learned how to fly those days were gone for good.

"You know, I don't think I've seen you before, girlie. ...Yes, you're from somewhere else, aren't you? Well, a pleasure to see a new face, yup! The name's Hakkyou, and you are?"

Hakkyou nodded. "Ah, I see... well Medicine, you hungry? I could get you something to eat and we could chat a bit. Truthfully, you're the most interesting person I've met in a while."

She hoped she didn't come across the wrong way or anything, she would have hated to run Medicine off or worse, provoke an attack form her. She wasn't sure what she could do, but even a small youkai like her could easily overpower her, most likely, and probably had a power better suited to fight. She briefly considered just controlling her emotions and making her more agreeable, but there hadn't been any problems yet, and besides, that would defeat the purpose. She wanted to get to know the girl, not control her. Assuming it would even work...

Truthfully, Hakkyou was scared, but she was very good at keeping it hidden. This friendly, seemingly harmless girl could very well be her undoing... or maybe she was worrying over nothing. "Stop trying to make everything into a threat, Hakks! For Shinki's sake, she's just a little girl, she doesn't seem dangerous and if she is I can always run.

"Oh, I know a few places, but this one'll do." She took Medicine to nearby restaurant, a small little place with few people. There were better places, probably with better food, but this was her favorite because unlike most of the others, the owner didn't care what you are, youkai or human, as long as you paid.

Hakkyou sat down with Medicine and looked at the menu. As always she ordered her favorite, a rare steak. She could barely stop herself from drooling at the thought of it, but she contained herself enough to ask Medicine what she wanted to eat.

Hakkyou nodded. "I'll take my usual, the rare steak."

The waitress nodded and walked off to get the food ready. Hakkyou always felt a little guilty she never learned the girl's name, but shrugged it off. One of these days she'd know, it's not like she'd stop coming here, and anyway it wasn't really important.

"So, Medicine... it'll be a few minutes till the food gets here... let's talk. What are you exactly? I can tell you're a pretty young youkai, but other than that I'm clueless. It's not your size it's... how you carry yourself, I guess. The way you move, act speak... that sort of thing. Doesn't tell me what you are, though. I'm a Amanojaku, myself."

"Poison, eh? That's a useful trick..."

Just as I thought, I wouldn't stand a chance in a fight... good thing we're not fighting, I guess... It still annoyed her a little that even a younger youkai could easily beat her in battle, but that was fine, she was strong in other ways. After all, what good is it to have power if you don't even want to use it?

"My power is I can sense and control emotion." She neglected to say that some people could resist it if they were strong enough, or if their powers countered her own. Control of information was just as useful as control of emotion... but suspicion was starting to wear off. This girl wasn't her enemy, there was nothing to be scared of. Everything about her radiated innocence, and her emotions were as far from malevolent as possible. She could really trust this girl, could really be friends with her. Just like that, she started to relax, not pretending anymore. Nothing need be hidden.

"I can do some other neat tricks aside from that, I'll show you later. Took me a long time to figure them out too, powers tend to be like that. You have an obvious use and probably a bunch of hidden ones. That's really how you divide youkai- there are the smart ones who learned to use their power to it's fullest, and the not so smart ones that just get by... but I'm rambling. Back to you, you said you was a doll youkai, right? I haven't really met any of those... I think. Maybe. Hard to tell. Ever met a magician named Alice Margatroid?"

"Just wondering. I can tell you don't like her much... I can see why too, considering what you are. Someone who makes dolls and neglects them really gets under your skin, huh? I don't need my power to tell that, it's right on your face. To tell you the truth, Alice is a bit..."

At the moment, the waitress came back with their orders. "Oh, food's here!"

Hakkyou dug in the instant the place touched the table, devouring her steak with single-minded intensity. Medicine was probably annoyed at her for not finishing what she was saying, but if so Hakkyou didn't notice. In was a trait many youkai shared, when they eat they simply forget everything till their done. Hakkyou was no exception, and for a few minutes she forgot Medicine was even there. Finally, she took a break from her meal to catch her breath, and remembered that she brought someone with her.

"Oh, sorry... food makes me stop paying attention sometimes..." She blushed, embarrassed by her lack of manners. "Umm, what was I saying?"

"Right right, Alice. I don't know her all that well, but she kinda has a bad reputation, what with being a youkai magician and all, and especially with all those dolls she makes. No offense to you, of course, you're great, but it is a little unnerving to see them flying around all the time, so... quiet, like they're plotting something almost. They're definitely watching, that's for sure, they watch anyone who comes up to the house at all."

She paused to scarf down a little more steak, careful to keep her mind on what she was saying.

"But yeah, I was wondering if you knew her, because I can't tell if those dolls are alive or not. I don't really pick up any emotion from them like I do you, but I know they do things and give looks when she didn't tell them to, and it's really weird. I was hoping you could tell. Because if they are alive, that could have interesting implications. Like, are they tear her apart for ordering them around? Do they like her, see her as a mom or something? Don't know, but it'd be interesting to find out. Anyway, rambling again, not letting you get a word in probably. What do you think?"

Hakkyou nodded, picking at the last remnants of her steak. "I see... well, just wondering. Other than you I've never seen a doll youkai, so yeah. Anyway, I'm done eating, so as soon as you're done we can go. I have nowhere to go, so I guess I'll be following you, if that's ok."

Most people would be suspicious of such an offer, to be invited to the lair of a poison youkai, but Hakkyou could tell by now that Medicine really did mean well. Besides, there was no ill will in her emotions, so it had to be safe.

"Alight, lead the way Medicine. Sounds like it'll be fun!"

Hakkyou said nothing as Medicine lead her away from the city, mostly because she didn't know what to say. That, and she was too busy trying to keep up. The little youkai certainly moved fast for her size, and the fact that she was holding Hakkyou's hand meant she got dragged along with her. She could keep up certainly, but Medicine's size forced her to bend over, making running more than a little awkward.

Still, it was worth it when they finally got to her home. "Wow... this place is beautiful, Medicine!"

Hakkyou examined the flower. "It really is beautiful... I can still smell it though." It had a very pungent smell, not too bad. "It's... kinda nice. But it probably will kill me, so..." She backed up a bit, away from the smell. "It really is beautiful, though." She said apologetically.

Hakkyou let herself be led off to Medicine's house, a bit relieved to be away from the flowers. "I probably could have stayed there a bit longer, I just don't know how long and I would really rather not find out. I'm probably being paranoid, but when you've been around as long as I have it kinda comes with the territory. If you was around when I was a kid, you'd probably know what I mean... but anyway, I'm babbling again."

She took a good look at Medicine's house. Hakkyou's own home was much nicer, not out of any ability or cleanliness on her part, but simply because the human who owned it and let her stay was a bit better about that sort of thing in that he had a maid to take care of such issues. On her own, Hakkyou's home would probably ended up looking much the same.

"Your home is pretty nice, but it could use a little work. I could probably get my maid to help you out here, if you want. But for now... remember when I said there were other things my powers can do? I think it's time I showed you."

She concentrated and a white aura appeared around her, quickly shifting into several smaller auras of various colors around her. The auras dissipated, revealing what seemed to be several smaller Hakkyous in different color kimonos.

"See, I can sense and control emotions, and control my own so well I can make small embodiments of emotion to do stuff for me. I call 'em emotes. You wouldn't mind if they cleaned your house a bit, would you?"