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"are you both friends of junpei?", the slender woman with shoulder-length black hair questioned as kiyo had smiled.
"indeed. it's a pleasure to meet you..."
"just call me nagi", the woman weakly smiled back, coughing a bit as kiyo could tell that her lungs were deprecating from the toxins that she's inhaling from her kiseru.
perhaps it was her addiction to tobacco that's leading them to poverty.
"I'm gojō kiyo and this is my friend fushiguro megumi", kiyo introduced, shaking hands with the woman as she offered them a seat in their humble home.
"welcome, welcome!! I'm so sorry there's not much...", the woman bashfully chuckled.
"no worries, we've actually brought some gyōza with chili oil for you two", kiyo said, setting the basket of fresh dumplings down on the table as yoshino had to turn away for a moment from salivating too much.
"oh my! you shouldn't have. please, at least stay for dinner. it's the least that I could do", the woman insisted, already taking out the scarce utensils from the cupboard.
"thanks for having us then", kiyo smiled, sitting beside fushiguro as yoshino was on the other side of her.
once everyone had settled, yoshino's mother had lifted up the lid, letting the delectable smell of gyōza fill everyone's nostrils.
"well, let's dig in!", nagi clapped as everyone had promptly grabbed their chopsticks.
"say, gojō-san, are you and fushiguro-kun..."
kiyo looked up confused. "hm?"
"no, we're not together. kiyo-san's like an older sister to me", fushiguro answered, to which kiyo's heart had bloomed a bit at fushiguro's kind words.
"a-ah...my apologies for assuming then", nagi chuckled, to which kiyo had just shook her head.
"no worries. I'm not really in the position to have a relationship and neither am I into younger guys", kiyo chuckled.
"oh my! I should've known from the appeal. sorry for the questions", nagi laughed, to which kiyo had joined in.
"it's quite alright", the girl replied.
"but you said you're not into younger guys...you don't look too old, gojō-san. how young are we talki—"
nagi suddenly felt her son gently kick her leg under the table, making her playfully glare at him as his face lit up with embarrassment.
"ah, well I'm actually twenty-eight this year", kiyo smiled, to which fushiguro and yoshino's head had snapped towards her to fast that they may have even cracked a bone.
even nagi was in shock.
"t-twenty-eight?", yoshino stuttered out, his heart shattering a bit as he was only seventeen.
"mhm!"
"what's your secret? mind helping me out a bit?", nagi whispered, to which kiyo had lightly chuckled.
"I don't really do anything with my skin. I just wash it with water every morning and every night", the girl replied, to which nagi couldn't help but feel a bit jealous.
"what a time to be young", the woman sighed.
"you look no older than me, nagi-san", the white-haired girl complimented, to which nagi had immediately snatched her hands in hers.
"ah, you're such a sweetheart! feel free to come by anytime!!", the woman grinned, to which yoshino had internally hoped that kiyo would return someday.
"of course! I'll try my best to visit", kiyo stated as the four continued dining, with only nagi and kiyo speaking the majority of the time.
it wasn't long before yoshino had invited the two to his room, where even though it was a bit cramped, kiyo had found it quite cozy.
"are these for school?", kiyo asked as she pointed to a stack of scrolls with stage lines written on them.
"o-oh no! they're actually plays...I can't always afford to go watch them so I just ask the performers for their scripts after they're done with it", yoshino mumbled, scratched the back of his neck as he felt his ears burn up.
"hm? you like geki noh based performances?", kiyo asked.
"umm...yeah..it has more action and a great advancement to the plot, so...it's more interesting for me I suppose", yoshino answered.
"I like them too", fushiguro chimed in, making yoshino look up with felicity in his eyes.
"r-really? which performance do you like?", yoshino excitedly asked, to which fushiguro had hummed a bit as he tried remembering when was the last time he saw a play.
"I think...shōjō was its name", fushiguro mumbled.
"oh, I know that one! I actually have it right here", yoshino stated as he flipped through all the scrolls, picking one up and showing it to the two shamans.
kiyo lightly chuckled as she skimmed through the script.
"the tippling demon...speaking of demons, have you encountered any?", kiyo asked, smoothly transitioning into the more important of topics.
yoshino slightly flinched, awkwardly rolling the bamboo scroll back up.
"u-umm...I don't think so...w-why do you ask?", the boy softly laughed, though there was no happiness to it.
"I was just wondering, that's all. ever since we've stepped foot in this village, we've heard rumors going around about human mutations", kiyo explained.
"is that why you two are here? to exorcise them?", yoshino asked, to which fushiguro had nodded.
"well, I suppose it's fine if you haven't seen any of them. I want you to be safe", kiyo smiled, patting yoshino's head and making the male flinch once more.
"thank you...for your concern", yoshino muttered, adverting kiyo's gaze as the girl just nodded.
"it's getting late; we should get going", fushiguro said, to which yoshino had walked the two out as nagi had already head to bed.
waving goodbye, yoshino was left with an address of where to find kiyo if he needed her, since she was to be staying for who knows how long.
"what did you think about him?", kiyo asked, walking with fushiguro back towards the inn — to which satoru was responsible for booking — as few people passed by the two.
"he seems normal, why?", fushiguro questioned.
kiyo hummed.
"is there something you caught that I didn't?", the male asked.
"I just...it's just a gut feeling..but he seemed even more nervous when I asked him about the yōkai that's been terrorizing the villagers here", kiyo stated.
"maybe he's fearful", fushiguro suggested.
"I hope that's the case and that I'm just overthinking", kiyo softly sighed, her eyes wavering with concern as they glanced up at the full moon tonight.
∞
"I didn't know you were friends with those sorcerers", mahito stated, to which yoshino had nearly fell onto his back as the blue-haired male had just miraculously appeared in his room.
"w-well...we only met today...", yoshino explained.
"ah~ well, I'd love to meet your friend someday. after all, we're friends too, right junpei?", mahito grinned, to which yoshino had felt a bit uneasy about it.
"but she's here to—"
"I know what she's here for, but I think after a little pep talk, I can convince her just how wicked this world truly is. I mean...you like her don't you? wouldn't it be better to have her on our side rather than the opposing side?", mahito asked, leaning against his arm as he laid sideways.
"you...really think so? you think that she'd want to help us cleanse this world of despicable humans?", yoshino asked, to which the patchwork of a man had smirked — quickly turning it into a smile.
"of course!! I'm the master of persuasion. she'll surely be pleased to know that you wish to include her on our special mission", mahito lied, to which he could tell that yoshino was still a bit hesitant.
"think about it for a while. you know where to find me, but I'm only giving you two days time. bring her, and her alone".
yoshino gulped as he hesitantly nodded, shakily breathing out an answer.
"I'll...try..."