fandomtownies | Hitsuzen; Monday

"Is that all?" Yuuko said, but her tone made it obvious she wasn't buying it. "I once had a young man tell me the exact same thing. It turned out that wasn't the case at all." She made her way further into the room and took a seat on a small and rather decorative sofa. "This is a shop that grants wishes," Yuuko began. "If you can afford to pay the price, then I can give you whatever you want in return."

"Wishes?" Sliding one of her eyes shut, Sakurazaki sounded more than skeptical. But, still...after she'd said it, Sakurazaki realized that it wasn't particularly too out of line, was it? She'd seen herself how profitable the right kind of magic could be. She waited to see how this woman would respond to her skepticism before embarking on the new questions that started popping up in her head, before allowing herself to give into her curiousity.

"You don't have to believe me," Yuuko said, letting out a breath of smoke from her pipe. She stared at Sakurazaki straight in the face with an odd sense of interest. "I'd be quite surprised, however, considering your origins."

Sakurazaki's back straightened. She couldn't possibly mean...no, that was impossible. How could she? Instinctively, though, her hand drifted up to the scar on her cheek. "What do you mean by that?" She tried her hardest not to sound shocked or insulted, but she didn't do very well.

Yuuko let out a chuckle. "There are some, say... spiritual beings, beings of non-human nature, that exist in the world. They live in the same world as us, and thus must coexist alongside humans. I'm sure you know how well most people would take their presence, much less know they truly do exist, and because of this they use varying ways of disguising themselves. Some of them can even surpress that 'aura' that gives away they are of a spiritual or non-human being. You, however," she gestured at Sakurazaki. "let that aura spill all over the place. I picked it up as soon as you walked in."

"Spill?" Sakurazaki reacted well before she thought about what the woman was telling her, nearly bolting to her feet but, instead, chosing to merely grip angrily at the arms of her chair while she leaned forward. "All over? I'll have you know that I have keeping that 'aura' sustained since..."

And then it hit Sakurazaki. She could try to keep it sustained all she wanted, but here she was babbling about it at the first sign of recognition. Scowling, she crossed her arms over her chest and slunk back in the chair, turning her eyes away. "Great. So I guess now you know," she mumbled, and then snapped her eyes quickly toward the shopkeeper. "You can't tell anyone, do you hear me? You may have been able to pick it up right away, but I've been able to keep it a secret from most of the other people on this island, and I'd appriciate it if you could keep your mouth shut."

"You've been around people who are unable to pick it up well, haven't you?" Yuuko's grin didn't falter at all through the conversation. "Dear, if you honestly think I'd even consider discussing such matters with anyone else, you're very wrong. I've been doing this far too long to do something so stupid. Your secret, as you call it, is more than safe with me, rest assured."

Something about the way this woman handled the conversation annoyed and irritated Sakurazaki greatly, but it also gave Sakurazaki the impression that threatening her and bringing out the warrior machismo was the last thing she'd want to do as well. Sakurazaki still figured her secret was still very much a secret...sure, the island was small, but three people (maybe four, still wasn't clear on what Ranma knew) out of so many was pretty damn good, despite what this woman said. But if she were able to tell so easily...and feel that it was "oozing" from Sakurazaki, she didn't want to underestimate what she was capable of.

"Well, good," Sakurazaki said stiffly, lifting her chin as if trying to regain some sort of dignity. But that was all she had. At least she hadn't started blushing...

...but, then, at merely thinking of it, a slow blossom of pink began to develop across her cheeks.

Shit.

"No need to be flustered," Yuuko said, catching the obvious expression at the young girl's face. "I don't question your reasoning behind hiding your demon side, after all. Plently of full-fledged demons do it all the time. Humans are very confusing, puzzling things that have a hard time understanding the unknown, aren't they? And that's why they hide." Yuuko sat her pipe in an ashtray on a table beside the sofa, blowing out one last puff of smoke. "Do you doubt me now?"

Sakurazaki carefully took in what the shopkeeper had said. Carefully, and thoughtfully.

"I don't doubt," she said after a moment, "your ability to percieve things beyond what any normal person could percieve them. But I don't see what that directly has to do with granting wishes, except perhaps you're able to use your skills of perception to make it seem like you are fulfilling a person's wish, thus that you deal less in wishes as you do in altering perceptions."

...or something like that.

"My, my, that's an interesting thought," Yuuko laughed. "Very interesting! I've yet to hear that from anyone's mouths. But," her suddenly cheerful tone quickly changed back to its previous, stern one. "You also have to realize, that's a taboo. If you pretend to have powers you do not, it'll eventually come back to bite you. I'd be digging my own grave by doing that."

Sakurazaki frowned, really quite unsure of how to react to this. She didn't appriciate being laughed at, that was for sure, but, at the same time, the shopkeeper was being appriciative of Sakurazaki's....creativity (she'd never really been all that creative, so it felt strange using that term). But then the shopkeeper went so serious so quickly. This woman was definately...different. She left Sakurazaki feeling all out of sorts.

"That is very true," Sakurazaki said with a nod, appriciative of this supposed sense of responsibility. That graveness in her voice definately had Sakurazaki less inclined to doubt her anymore. It still seemed very unlikely. It was still possible that this woman was plain and simple insane. That would explain the shifts.

But it still didn't explain how the woman knew. Lucky guess? Perhaps too lucky...

"It is. Magic, or whatever you wish to call it, is nothing that should be used if you do not understand its rules. It has its ways of dealing with those who do so," Yuuko said. "Tell me, what is your name? You must be one of the students at the school."

Another shift, another slightly baffled moment for Sakurazaki. The way this shopkeeper talked about magic sounded all too familiar to her; maybe she had been wrong to doubt. But Sakurazaki shook her head, breaking away from her string of reveries, and focused on the question to her. The shake turned quickly into a nod.

"I am. My name is Setsuna Sakurazaki." She frowned a bit after the introduction. She felt like, after the conversation she'd just had with the shopkeeper, she should have designated it as her human name, but that suggested that Sakurazaki knew her demon name. Which she didn't.

"So you're from Japan, though the accent should've given that away," Yuuko mused. "I'm from Tokyo. You may call me Yuuko Ichihara. Now we're more acquainted with each other."

Sakurazaki gave a small bow of her head. //"It is nice to meet you, Ichihara-san,"// she said, retaining her very stiff demenour of respect, although she had a feeling already that Yuuko would only just laugh at her some more. And 'nice' wasn't exactly the word she'd use to describe the meeting.

//"You don't have to be so formal,"// Yuuko insisted casually. //"Just 'Yuuko' will do, please. With that said, I want you to consider this meeting carefully. I can tell you have no desire to wish for anything right this moment."//

//"If you wish, then...Yuuko."// It seemed that being asked to reign in her formality only make Sakurazaki cling to it all the more. She wasn't quite sure if she wanted to be so casual with this woman. She rose from the chair, taking her words as a suggestion to leave. She bowed her head again. //"And I will. Thank you for your time. I'm sorry if I seemed intrusive."//

//"It was no intrusion,"// Yuuko said. //"All meetings happen for a reason, and this one is no exception. Maybe you'll realize why someday. In the meantime, have yourself a wonderful day, Setsuna."//

All meets happen for a reason, and this one is no exception.

Sakurazaki nodded again, unable to keep her focus off that statement, as much as she tried not to. Did the shopkeeper realize why? Was this some unexpected test? Hadn't she had enough of these sorts of things? She was back; she was supposed to be getting back to the person she was while she was here. This sort of thing wasn't suppose to follow her here.

She needed to get out of this store. Now. Thankfully, the door was wide open for her. //"Thank you, Yuuko,"// Sakurazaki nodded her head again. //"You...you, too."//

With that, she left, feeling like she knew she should have taken a different path into town today...

Hitsuzen; Monday

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