Cleansing

After the cheerful ride home, we arrive back to the house where Tomoko is waiting for return. The clouds above by time we got home had grown darker and the smell of rain was stronger than it was before. The wind nipped the apples of my cheeks with every gust that blew past me.

When we walked up to the home, the air was filled with comforting aroma of cooking food. "Tomoko?"

Her small little form came running out of the kitchen and smile, "Hello, Master and Miss."

I smiled back and follow her back into the kitchen where she continues to stir a pot of soup, "What you up to?"

"Cooking food and making dishes to store." I look over to see a few bowls of already chopped items and finished foods.

Orochi comes into the kitchen and stands beside me, "So we received news that demons from the Darklands attacked one of near provinces while we were in town."

She freezes and looks at the both of us, "Really? How? Are you sure?!"

I nod my head, "I heard from one of the townspeople while they were talking. A woman barely escaped from there with her life during the attack."

"Do you think it could be Beliath?" She asks.

"It's possible unless she is sending people out to do her work. Ren said that there was a woman with the 'face of death' tagging along with the others who destroyed everything." Orochi answers her and visually Tomoko seems shaken.

Her two different colored eyes stared into space while we took in the situation. This could be Beliath finally coming to finish her revenge but why didn't she come attack here?

"Orochi, could it be possible that she could find out where we are?" I look over to his leaning figure over the table.

He sighs, "It's possible but we don't know if it's her or not. It could just be someone who is filling in for her and she is trying to bait us out."

Tomoko shakes her head, "She doesn't seem like the type to let people do things for her."

"Which is exactly what she would want you to think." He sighs and walks out of the kitchen clearly frustrated by the sudden news. Beliath coming after us isn't what we need right now, especially when I have barely got in contact with Akuma.

"Miss, are you okay?"

I shake my head clearing my thoughts, "Yes, I'm alright. I'm just worried about the situation at hand. Nothing is more frightening than her finding us, right now."

She nods and continues with her cooking while I watch silently. My mind fills the memory of Beliath's smile. Her sinister smile and the insanity behind her eyes as they stared back at me while I cried out in pain. It was something I didn't want to relive, something that no one else should know.

But unfortunately, the poor woman in the town saw how toxic she could be with just a smile. It's terrifying that she would go to such lengths to get me.

"What happened while you were in town?" Tomoko asks as she dumps her pot of soup into a large bowl.

"Nothing really. Just walked around getting the items we needed and talking. We stopped by the ocean cliffs for a moment before I got backpacked away." I shake my head and chuckle.

She raises an eyebrow at me, "Backpacked?"

"He picked me up off the ground and carried me over his shoulder." A small gasp comes from her followed by a low growl from her throat.

"Stupid demon doesn't know how undermining that can be to a woman." She taps her wooden spoon on the pot and angrily sets it down.

"It alright, Tomoko. It was only a joke." I laugh at her motherly reaction.

We stay there for a little bit while she cooks and packages things for us to eat over the next few months. It was growing colder outside with harsher winds than there was earlier today.

~~~~~~

Tomoko and I were sitting on floor by the door as the light sprinkle of rain was heard. Warm bowls of food were finished in our hands and bellies full of delicious treats. She spoke up first to mention, "It finally decided to rain now."

I smile and I look out into the small cleared area as the stepped become freckled with dark grey circles from where the raindrops hit. "Indeed it has."

"Want to go run around in it?" I look over to see her mischievously smiling at me and bouncing up and down like a little child. I chuckle, "Sure."

As the rain starts to get heavier and louder with every second we stand under it the more our clothes get soaked. But the feeling of freedom and happiness was wrapped around us.

I looked up to the raining grey sky as its tears speckled my cheeks below and close my eyes. The droplets dripping off my cheeks and down my neck were cold at the touch. It felt so relaxing and freeing like nothing in the world could bother me.

I held my arm spread wide as it coated my body making me shiver in delight. "Miss, you sure love the rain."

A soft smile comes to my lips, "Rain is meant to be the natural cleansing of the earth, or so some people believe. I just love the feeling of the cold."

I hear her walk up next to me and grab my hand as we walk up as close as we can until the wet cloths got to be too much. "We can call for Orochi and change in a minute. Orochi!" She yells out loud.

His dark figure walks out form behind the wall of the hall and sees us drenched in our clothes, his eyes go wide, "How in the world are you soaking wet?"

I nervously laugh, "Well, we both kind of went out in the rain for a while and now we want back in but we're too wet to."

Orochi shakes his head, "Hold on, let me gather clothes for you so you can come in."

His figure disappears back to the hall and I hear a soft shuffling next to me. The clothes Tomoko were just wearing are now a soggy pile on the floor and her fox form was shaking out her fur.

"You're not getting close?" I look down at her small form.

The little fox's head shakes in a 'No' to my question right when Orochi gets back with a pair of clothes for me to change into. His eyebrow raises at Tomoko on the floor, "Well, it makes more sense for you to dry off that way than it is in clothes." He hands me the pile as Tomoko walks off into the house.

I look at him and suddenly get anxious, "Orochi, how am I suppose to change?"

"You get on undressed. Is that not how you change?" My face goes redder and I bite my lip.

"No, I mean how do I change out here?"

His eyes look down and then backup with a darker expression, "Just take off the unnecessary layers and I will hand you my Haori for you cover yourself until you get to your room."

I nod my head and wait for him to turn but he doesn't. "Orochi, turn around."

He chuckles and turns his back to me so his long midnight hair is facing me. I exhale and undo the knots to my kimono. I gently place my things on the ground, "Okay, I need the covering."

Orochi shrugs out of his Haori and turns around to me and swings it around me. "There, you should be fine until you get inside."

I feel my cheeks burn as I look at him as he messes with sleeves of it until his eyes catch mine.

"What? Is something wrong?" He asks.

"N-No, I'm fine. I just got sidetracked." I nod and hurry into the house to get warm and change, trying to ignore the fact that I embarrassed myself just now.

When I get into the room, I exhale and close my eyes trying to relax from my embarrassment. "Get yourself together." I tell myself as I take off the Haori and place it on my bed.

A few minutes later, I have dry clothes and my hair tied above my head. The Haori Orochi had given me was laying on the bed sprawled out as the light hit the embroidery with soft yellow light of the candle next to my bed.

It was a black material with small yellow flowers on the brims of it. My lips turned into a smirk, "Didn't know such a menacing man, had such a fine taste in fabric."

I grab it and head out of the hall to Orochi's door to knock. Footsteps are heard behind the door and it opens to him looking down on me. "Here I don't need it now."

He takes it and lays it down on his arm, "I wanted to talk to you about something. Come here."

I nod and follow suit into his room.