fandomtownies | Hitsuzen; Wednesday

Sakurazaki took a deep breath. This was it. After all her thinking, she had decided that, yes, this was what she wanted. She wanted it more than anything in the world. But she was still nervous.

The first step was always the hardest.

Especially since Sakurazaki didn't know if she should knock or just go into the shop, or what. So she did both. After knocking lightly, she timidly stuck her head in. "...Yuuko?" she asked, eyes adjusting to the shift in light, searching for the witch.

"Come in, come in," Yuuko called from her seat in the main room. "No need to hesitate."

Sakurazaki snorted a little. Yeah, no need to hesitate. It's only embarking on what could be the biggest decision you ever made in your life. She shook her head as she walked into the main room.

"There you are," she said to the woman in the big chair. "So. I've been doing some thinking..."

And, at the moment, she was trying to think about exactly how to say this. Of course, she'd rehersed it over and over again in her head, but she was suddenly couldn't get her mouth to work quite right.

"Ah, thinking," Yuuko waved to another chair if Sakurazaki wanted a seat. "Very good. It's something a lot of people don't to too much of, hmm? Tell me, I'm quite interested; what's on your mind?"

"Most people say I do it too much," Sakurazaki grumbled a little, but she eagerly plopped into the offered chair. She wasn't going to be able to do this well standing up. Immediately, the sarcastic tone in her mumble disappeared and she began playing with her fingers in her lap. "This...this whole wish thing that you do...I mean, what sort of limitations do you have?"

"There are some things that are necessary to think over, and then some that most shouldn't even bother with. It's good to do more than not." Yuuko put a hand to her chin with a smile. "My only limitation is that I will not grant a wish that directly involves other people-- only yourself. Of course, what you do to yourself may affect others, but that is their choice. Whatever you want for yourself, dear, I shall do."

Well, that at least answered that question. Sakurazaki's mind quickly tried to find more, though, because, yeah. Maybe she wasn't quite ready for this after all.

She found her delay in technicalities. Since she didn't know exactly how she was supposed to tell Yuuko her wish. "I...I think I have a wish, then. It...it's big, though. Really big. But payment shouldn't be an issue. I have a really big job this week, and, while I don't know the exact amount, my colleugue assures me that it will be a lot. I don't have a whole lot of use for money, so you can have as much of it as you'll need...or want."

Yuuko snorted. "Setsuna, no amount of money could equal the amount of a wish."

Sakurazaki sharpened rigidly, feeling a little bit of panic. A wrench in the gears of her carefully constructed plot. Not good, not good, not good!

"H..how, then, are they to be paid for?"

"It depends on the wish," Yuuko replied. "A posession, something worth it, something rare perhaps, something you and only you would ever own, maybe even a soul should the price become that large. Money is given away and gained so easily, and without penalty."

"I...I don't have many possessions, either..." Sakurazaki's shoulders slumped. And trading her soul just sort of made the whole thing useless.

...but there was Yuunagi. If she went through with this, she might not even need the nodachi anymore. Sakurazaki gulped, and didn't say anything more.

"That's what most people believe," Yuuko said. "Everyone has something. But we can discuss payment later."

Sakurazaki wasn't sure if she was confortable getting herself into something and not knowing what the payment would be. You always discussed the terms before ascenting to the mission. But, then again, she wasn't exactly comfortable with the whole situation at all.

"Well, you know...the whole demon thing? And how you said you could tell that I was and everything?"

Stall, stall, stall.

Yuuko nodded slowly; the hesitation in Sakurazaki's voice was very obvious. "Yes, I know."

"Well," staaaaaalll, "you know that it's only half, right? I'm not full demon?"

"Of course," Yuuko said. "I know plenty of humans and demons alike. I can tell the difference."

Sakurazaki nodded. She didn't have much else to work with. Sucking in a deep breath, she closed her eyes for a moment before she took the plunge.

"Well, I want to be human. No demon part anymore. Just a full-fledge, normal, demonless fifteen year old girl."

Yuuko actually looked genuinely surprised. "How different," she commented. "Most half-demons want to be full. I suppose it's all for the power." She sat up and straightened herself, crossing her arms across her lap. "So you want to be human? It can be done."

It felt as if Sakurazaki's heart had just lept out of her chest. She had to catch her breath before she could speak, leaning forward in the chair, face flushed with excitement. "Really? It...it can?"

"I'd say no if it couldn't," Yuuko confirmed. "I'd make certain you truly want to, for your sake; it's an awfully big change to be made."

Sakurazaki's face grew very stern and serious, her voice dark. "My entire life, I've hated myself because of half of me. I want this more than anything in the world, Yuuko. Have my entire life. And, if that's not enough to convince you, I've spent every other minute thinking about this since I met you. I wanted to make sure this was what I wanted before I followed through with this. I know how big it is; I understand what it means."

"Very good," Yuuko said simply. "It seems you've put a lot of thought into this... from a typical perspective."

"...From a typical perspective?" Sakurazaki wasn't sure if she wanted more clarification if it meant Yuuko was going to throw more complications at her. She had to do this. She couldn't let anything dissuade her.

"Oh, you can't expect everything in life to just fall right into your lap, can you?" Yuuko smiled. "You just want the wish, right? So, when can you start?"

"Start?" Sakurazaki looked rather confused. "Shouldn't I be asking that? I mean, you're the one who has to do all the magic or whatever to make it come true, right?"

"Certainly, yes, but first you have to pay for it, right? Work for it, pay for it-- it's the same thing in the end." Yuuko jerked a thumb behind her, pointing to a door leading to more rooms. "The storage room is such a mess, and oh, all the errands I could finally get done..."

Slowly, Sakurazaki was piecing this together. Her eyes followed Yuuko's thumb, then settled back on the shopkeeper. "You...want me to work for you to pay for my wish?"

"Why not? It would be very nice to have a little help around here again," Yuuko chimed. She paused before adding, "I think it'll do you some good, Setsuna."

"I suppose that doesn't sound too bad a---Hey, wait a minute! What do you mean by that, it'll do me good?"

"What, you expect me to tell you that, too? What ever happened to discovering things on one's own, hmm?" Yuuko flopped back comfortably in her chair. "Whenever you can begin, I'll be waiting!"

Sakurazaki really hoped the little roll of her eyes that accompanied her sigh wasn't too obvious. What was this? Yuuko trying to be all kung-fu master on her with life lessons or something? But, despite her grievances about certain...aspects of Yuuko's personality, Sakurazaki owed her big time for what she was doing for her.

"I'm going back to Japan for a week or so for a job," she informed her, "but I can start when I return."

"Yay! I'll see you then, Setsuna! Don't stick around in Japan for too long, okay?"

Yay? God, what was she getting herself into.

"Y...yeah," Sakurazaki started to rise from her chair. "I...I don't really plan to. Uhhh, I, um, will see you next Monday, then, I guess?"

Sakurazaki rather hurried back out into the streets of Fandom. It felt strange, really; like she couldn't entirely be sure if it had all really happened. Drawing in a deep breath and heading back toward the dormitory, she assured herself that it was. She was going to go through with this. From this day...or, Monday forward, her journey began...

Hitsuzen; Wednesday

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