Flaming Cherry Blossoms [ Littlebookthief x Dimitri ]

[Dimitri]

Damn.

He did again. It was all his fault.

Being still slightly weakened after his recent fight, Hikitsu found it hard to control his fire powers. Passing by a forest on his way to no-where in particular -fire spirits rarely had something called 'home' after all-, he ran carelessy and brushed by a few branches on the ground. The rapid contact in the dry air started a spark, and by the time he realized what was going on, the whole forest was being swallowed by flames.

Now, he was struggling to find his way out of the fiery maze. Although the fire didn't harm him, it was still dangerous; the trees were falling down and herds of animals that were trying to escape could easily trip and stomp over him, causing death both to him and each other.

Luckily, most animals avoided him. Although it was the human world, they could see him; unlike humans, animals were amongst the creatures who could see most things they didn't. He could hear the tree spirits moan and cry in agony, but there was little he could do. The Fox eventually managed to spot a gap in the flames, revealing a meadow. He sprinted in that direction, and finally broke free from the madness. As soon as he was out and a distance away, he stopped and looked back. The forest was dying. The flames were rising, bright on the night sky. Once more he caused disaster. With a sigh, he looked down at the grass that surrounded his flaming paws. All this could be avoided if he only cared to control his power a little more when he ran, just like now.

Well. Too bad. He wouldn't whine over this forever. Knowing the water spirits were on their way -the sky was darkening with clouds and it looked like it would rain soon-, he took off again, not having a set place to go, just letting his paws lead him on. To his surprise, after a few hours, as dawn was setting in, he ended up back in the bathhouse. Taking a few careful steps towards the bridge, he peeked in carefully. No-one. Most of them would be asleep now, save for the few that had day duty. It was early morning though, so he didn't expect to see anyone. And shoot, he still had no money.

Well, too bad. Transforming into human form, he hid Ne into his pockets and walked through the bridge. To his displeasure, the bathhouse was still closed; they'd be opening for daily guests at 9AM. He had no idea what time it was, but clearly, it was earlier than that. As a last resort, he made his way around the house and into their garden. Phew, at least that was open. Once inside, he found a small bench near a fake pond. Sitting on it, he sighed and stared at the water in front of him, thoughts of the unfortunate night flooding back into his mind. Hikitsu seemed unaware that there was another person nearby.

[littlebookthief]

Sakura was deep in thought , sitting by the flowers with the smell she oh, so liked. She was thinking about the dreams she had at night. Those 'dreams' were strange. Had she had another nightmare about a forest on fire because she decided to stop healing the forests ? Was it because she felt guilt , because she was no longer available for their healing ? Was it all her fault ? She didn't know any answers.

She didn't really want to know the answers at that point in time. Someday she would figure some things out , but for now nothing was clear to her. She was clueless about the fire that had gone on just a few hours ago , clueless about who started it. If she had found out she probably wouldn't blame him though. He is a fire spirit after all , what else would she expect of him ? He would start fires whether he meant to or not. It was who he was , he was made of fire , anything he touched would burn.

She got up off the ground and continued walking. She didn't know where she was going but she just felt like walking , thinking about the forests she no longer could help only made her feel sad , she didn't like having feelings. She liked being emotionless , it was her normal self to be emotionless.She liked being herself after all. She looked down at the ground walking around the large garden she found herself in. She reached a small pound , probably a fake one. She looked into the water and could see on the other side of this fake pound was the fire spirit she saved not so long ago. Not wanting to bother walking around the pond she just turned into a gust of wind and crossed it.

Once across the pond she turned back to normal form. " Hello" She said , sitting next to him. " I didn't expect you back so soon" She said , trying to form a smile on her face but unable , she just didn't know how to. She never smiled before in her life and now that she was trying to , she failed. She sat there in silence waiting for him to respond. She looked at the beautiful pond , the water glittered in the sunlight. She thought about how it would look in the moonlight. Her train of thought often wandered to all sorts of places while alone , but she was trying to stay there so that she could hear his response to her. She didn't want to be rude and just be there sitting, like a stone.

Her heart told her that this spirit wasn't as bad as most fire spirits , he was just who he was , nothing could change him. She didn't know exactly why her heart was finally speaking to her , it was strange. Out of nowhere , she was trying to smile , her heart was talking to her , what else would this fire spirit cause her to be ?

[Dimitri]

Hmm, maybe Hikitsu shouldn't leave for a while. Maybe Yubaba would be persuaded to let him stay, just for a bit longer, for free, until he could go and make the money to give her. Just until dry season ends, so he doesn't have to worry about any accidents any more. Ah, who was he lying to. Dry season was probably a favourite time for spirits like Yubaba. She would get lots of tree and fire spirits coming in, seeking shelter, so the more fires, the better business for her, after all.

Suddenly, he realized someone sat next to him and looking up, he recognized the now familiar face. That girl again. She greeted him casually, but then seemed to stare off at the pond. He didn't reply for a moment, simply gazing at her carefully, calculating his chances. She seemed a bit more relaxed than the day before, might as well accept her for now. However, Hikitsu wasn't really a talker, so he only shrugged at her words, and looked back the water. He wouldn't tell her why he was back; he'd tell nobody. There was no need to spread the word of disaster. It only caused further grief, the emotion he desperately wanted to avoid. Calm as he appeared on the outside, Hikitsu was often little more than a storm of emotions on the inside.

"You work here?" he asked suddenly, glancing at her sideways. Surely, she wouldn't have a reason to be around so early. He wanted to at least try and be fairly polite; he did owe her after all.

[littlebookthief]

Silence. It felt nice. She listened to the wind blow against her hair. Her pink hair just slightly moving with the dancing of the wind.

She was staring off into the distance , she was wondering what could bring him back after leaving in such a hurry. She couldn't figure it out and it bothered her for some unknown reason. Why would he want to be back here so soon ? She was baffled.

She heard him ask her something. " Well , I work here now " She said , looking at his face. He had beautiful fox ears , she thought. He looked very interesting. She had a sudden urge to touch one of his tails. She didn't of course , that would be rude. She really wanted to touch his tail though. It was weird , very weird. " Yubaba offered me a job here last night" She said accomplishing finally a smile. She smiled to him. Her first smile ever, what a day she was having. What a strange , strange day.

A gust of wind blew his tails back and forth , like a tree swaying on a stormy day. She seemed to be very fascinated by his tails , she couldn't hide it. She was staring at them , the furry three tails he had were so gorgeous. What a fascinating creature to be around , she thought. She never really met a fire spirit that was remotely nice either. It was strange that he wasn't being rude to her , it was all so bizarre and unfamiliar to her. She wanted to speak to him , but had nothing to say. She didn't want to spook him.

She closed her eyes and listened to the wind again. The wind , fluttering by making sounds of a butterfly. She was delighted by the wind , she always loved listening to it , watching it. She in fact sometimes flew side by side , in her spirit form. It was one of her favorite things to do in the morning. What a brilliant morning it was , such beauty stirring in this garden behind the bathhouse.The garden was much more charming to her than anything in the bathhouse. She enjoyed the outdoors , it brought fresh air to her lungs as she breathed in another day.

She looked back at the fox and was at peace once more. She neither wanted to smile nor frown , she was simply put , blank. Her face was void of anything connected to emotion. That was her norm , emotionless. " Isn't the garden exquisite ?" She said looking again at the flowers that had bewitched her earlier.

[Dimitri]

Hikitsu nodded in response. He wasn't surprised; clearly, she had skill. The fire spirit himself had no clue about healing, his own powers were often described as the opposite, destructive. Although not many knew that there existed the less catastrophic form of fire, the fire of life, which he himself ruled. After all, it was fire that warms others when they're cold, gives light when they are lost in the dark. Despite what most thought, fire's closest relative was the light element. So technically, Hikitsu should have a clue about healing. But, he didn't.

Those thoughts made him stare off for a moment again, before he shook them off - literally, shaking his head sideways a few times, just the way a fox would if something irritated its head, his ears flapping from the motion. He glanced at the girl, as she seemed not to say anything either, and he realized she was observing his tails. He gulped. Was there something wrong with them? Glancing back, he watched them fluff about in the wind. They were quite big, and extremely fluffy. The lights and shadows cast on them would always form some sort of swirls and patterns, and with every move, they'd change around. His fur was indeed odd, and he didn't really like it.

Looking away from the swirls, he looked back at the girl. Now, she appeared to be just spacing out, with her eyes closed. He took the moment to observe her more closely, in detail. She had long, pink hair; it seemed much softer to the touch than the scruffy mess he had on his own head. Her whole face, in fact, seemed to have gentle features, and her pale skin was unscathed. It was like she was his complete opposite.

But then she suddenly opened her eyes and looked at him. Hikitsu quickly looked away reaching for his mask with his hand and stroking it. It was something he did whenever he felt nervous or awkward. She then spoke, asking a question. Surely, an odd one.

He never took the time to appreciate anything around him, so he took little notice of the garden. Looking around at all the flowers and the pond, he didn't know what to say. Truth to be told, he didn't have much to think about the garden, as he couldn't bring himself to spot anything interesting. He realized then that this girl and him looked at the world in completely different ways.

He shrugged again, not wanting to offend her. But then, he took another sideways glance at her. "What's your name?" he asked, for the first time slightly curious about her.

[littlebookthief]

She watched him stroking his mask , wondering why he wore it. It seemed to be hiding something , fur was showing from the sides , like grass growing from under a rock. She wondered why he wanted to hide it , he was clearly a fox-like being , why should he want to hide it ? She was unsure of the answer , clearly only he knew the answer to that question and she was not about to ask it. She was too unsure of whether he would consider it rude.

She didn't answer him , he just shrugged. Obviously he didn't care whether he was rude or not , not answering her question seemed to annoy her. It was a simple yes ,she was looking for , or even a no. She didn't let him notice her annoyance , her face still at it's blank state. She didn't like showing what she was feeling , she felt it a weak thing to do. Why should someone know how she is feeling when she is unsure of it herself ?


Her train of thought broken with the words spoken by the spirit. He asked her what her name was. " Sakura" She said looking at him with her pink glowing eyes. She loved the colour pink , it was obvious in her whole body that she was a lady who loved pink. With all the colours in the world , she loved them all but pink was her favorite. She blinked twice , again she drifted away with her thoughts. This happened often to Sakura , she was a distant type of person , she never really spoke much.

"and your name is ?" She asked curiously , remembering what they were talking about. Her thoughts seemed to take her away from this world to another , every time she would let it. Once in deep thought , the girl could not be awoken from this zombie-like state. She tried to fight it while sitting next to the boy. Once again she was doing something not of her nature , all because of this fire spirit . What was this hold he seemed to have on her ? Why did it matter so much that she had to pay attention to him ?

[Dimitri]

Sakura. Cherry blossom. How very fitting. He briefly remembered the pink wind from the night before that surrounded him when she healed him. Indeed, the name suited her.

But, when she asked for his own, he paused. It wasn't that he didn't want to tell her, but.. somehow, whenever he told someone who he was, their attitude would bring around change. He wasn't famous, but his name would be thrown around here and there, given his rank was higher than most fire spirits, and higher ranked spirits would often be heard of. Still, the girl seemed like she was more of an inside person. Maybe she hasn't heard of him?

"I'm Hikitsu," he murmured, deciding not to use his full name. He glanced at her once more, hoping she didn't recognize it, and decided to quickly change topics. "Say, uh.. what did you do before you worked here?" he asked, saying the first thing that came to mind. Strange. He wouldn't usually be the one to ask questions. In fact, it was often others that tried to probe into him. He was a silent being, and a lot of more open spirits felt it was their goal to find out more about the ones who speak little, much to his displeasure. Hikitsu wasn't exactly acting like his usual self, and he wasn't quite sure whether it was a good thing or not.

[littlebookthief]

She blinked a few times.

Hikitsu. It sounded familiar.She didn't really care , it was a nice name. She thought about it for a while . His name was very suitable for him. Hikitsu sounded like a warrior name , which he seemed to look like a warrior.

Trying to get away from her thoughts that kept stealing her away from the boy , she heard his question. He wanted to know what she did before the bathhouse ? He didn't seem like the inquisitive type. She wanted to answer him , but didn't know with what. " Well , I was a healer " She said , continuing " I used to roam the human world , when I would see a tree in need I would heal it , but most of the time I would be too late and all I could do is help it pass on in peace " She said , with a tear dropping off of her cheek.

She never cried , why was she crying now ? The whole thought of losing a tree made her sad , but she never cried ? Being around this boy was so strange that it made her cry ? No , that was not it. It made her feel comfortable enough to be herself. Why did he make her feel comfortable at all ? No one ever made her feel comfortable. " I'm sorry" She said , wiping away her tear. Her thoughts kept roaming elsewhere when her body stayed put next to the boy. This was not unusual for her , what was unusual was that she kept fighting the pull of her thoughts. She wanted to stay around the boy , why ? Why was it so important to stay ?

She couldn't figure it out. Thinking about her thoughts just made her mind flow away , which was something she didn't want ! What was she doing ? This was all too complicated. She shook her head trying to get a hold of herself. She was going out of her mind ! She didn't know what to do anymore. She couldn't hold herself together any longer ,she turned into a pink mist and suddenly flew away into the wind.

She needed some time to relax her mind , relax her soul. She was getting too stressed out just because of this fox fire spirit ! She flowed with the wind , and became one with it. flying through the sky , the pink gust of wind looped and twisted like a pen on paper. She let out a deep sigh in the wind , meandering alongside with it. Unsure of anything she used to know , she was slowly breaking apart. She stopped in one burst and turned back into her human-like form and sat down next to him.

[Dimitri]

Listening to her answer, he only nodded slowly, but then realized she had begun to cry; or at least, he spotted a tear running down her cheek. Instantly, Hikitsu panicked. He never had to deal with someone crying, let alone a girl. Nervously, he tried to search for words to say something reassuring, but couldn't think of anything. He was never good with people, and he didn't know what to say, or do, so he just glanced at her, until suddenly, she transformed and was gone.

He watched the pink wind leave, but then his gaze dropped downwards. Nice one. You made her cry, genius. He thought angrily, frowning down as he stared at the pond again. While she was gone, Ne peeked out from one of his pockets. "Bored, little one?" Hikitsu asked, trying to keep his mind off things. Ne squeaked and dived back down inside the material of his clothes. Feeling something tickle him, the fox spirit didn't laugh, he twitched in discomfort, until Ne's head poked out of his sleeve. The little foxy squalled and hopped onto his knee, then down his leg onto the ground. It began running around happily, playing with the grass, some of which appeared to be bigger than he himself.

Hikitsu observed his companion silently, glad the little creature could relax him so easily. He stopped himself from smiling purposely, but he still felt slightly relieved. Watching Ne get so cheerful over such a small thing as grass instantly lifted Hikitsu's spirits. That was also when Sakura suddenly came back, sitting down next to him again.

The fire lord looked up at her. She spooked Ne, who squealed in surprise at her appearance and ran towards Hikitsu, disappearing in the sleeve of his trousers. He felt the creature climb into one of the pockets over his shin, but otherwise, he ignored the foxy. "Um, you okay now?" he asked awkwardly, stroking his mask again uncontrollably.

[littlebookthief]

She sat down , spotting a little creature running into the fox's trousers. It was quite fascinating. She wondered why he wasn't bothered by it. It was probably because he knew this creature. She wanted to ask him about it but didn't . She didn't know why. She didn't much these days , with her emotions unsure of themselves.

He asked her if she was okay. The truth was , she wasn't. The truth was she couldn't think about it anymore. " I guess so" She said , lying. She was so afraid of why she was being so strange. She didn't want to show her weakness to him. For some reason that was the only normal ting she could do , not show weakness. She hated showing her weakness to anyone. It was why she was always so emotionless. She never smiled , but she smiled for him ? She never cried but she cried from his question ? Why was she acting this way ? Why was she acting like a total fool ? Her head went back to the clouds as usual , the only usual thing she could think of other than hating being weak.

She looked at him , he was interesting to her. She once again stared over at his three tails. Each one furrier than the next. They made her want to touch them. Being in the strange mood that she was in , she didn't care anymore about being rude. She didn't even want to ask but she did " Can I , can I touch your tails ? " she asked , unsure of herself in every way possible. She looked away , Sakura realized how odd she was acting towards this man. She couldn't grasp what was bothering her.

Sakura looked at the fire spirit and tried to say something else. Her mouth opened but not a single sound came from her lips. She looked away immediately. She was ashamed.She was ashamed because all she could now think of was this funny little fire spirit that had found a way into her thoughts. Why was this happening to her ? She used to be so emotionless , she was happy to be that way. It was her way of living , and now , now her feelings had been awaken by Hikitsu. Her feelings now were flying about in the sky just like she had been earlier.