#kasumi.

[bladesbounties]

@thinkmekoi replied to your post “Settle this age long debate Banana...”:

Peanut butter banana milkshake.

​Now that's innovative. I'll try and make that. Still: choose one.

[bladesbounties]

TIMING: Current. LOCATION: Kasumi's yard. PARTIES: Kasumi @thinkmekoi and Daiyu @bladesbounties SUMMARY: Daiyu is hunting a nix, and Kasumi is where her tracking leads. CONTENT WARNINGS: None.

Kasumi sighed, leaning against the wall of the small makeshift pond. It had been here before she arrived; built by somebody who once cared for the dilapidated home. It seemed as though some kind of storm had shook down its base, caving in the main back door and several windows. Though, she had managed to squeeze in through one of the windows that was higher up. The upstairs had been relatively untouched (surprisingly, given the cave-in), and there was even a bed. The only issue was, there was no heat. When she felt herself growing too cold, she opted for going to the library or community center. For whatever reason, both seemed eager for visitors. 

She had even gotten a library card! Luckily, the woman– Nancy, had allowed her to get one without an identification card (whatever that was), and so she was able to read any and all books she pleased. It was gratifying to know that she’d been able to take them home, too. Kasumi couldn’t stay in the water for long periods of time, as it was too cold, and often frozen. Lucky enough for her, she didn’t need to cleanse, nor heal. 

She’d been absorbed in her book: Tuck Everlasting. Its faded off-green cover made her slightly homesick, but she had been enjoying the novel, even if she wasn’t too far. Kasumi barely registered the sound of footsteps, or the way they stopped. Her off-brown sweater was pulled up to her chin, and the pants that were too big were held upright with too big of a belt. Somewhere, somebody would swear it was fashion, but all Kasumi cared about was keeping warm. “Oh, hello.” She looked up to see a woman with dark hair and eyes that caught the light in a way that should have warned her. 

— 

Fae were not her usual targets, especially not the more humanoid versions of them. Their ways with words, their natures that escaped her, the way they acted so differently than animals with their somewhat predictable instincts. But sometimes there was a bounty so enticing that she could not simply sit by and let a warden take care of it. Sometimes there was a monetary gain that would smooth the coming months over and Daiyu saw no reason but to go after it. 

She had tracked the nix to Deersprings, found the place where she had taken up residence (a strange house, where no one legally lived) and was circling around the house to enter through the backyard. She’d make it swift and simple, leave no room for binds or other fae magic to fuck with her. Fae were not to be underestimated — they might not have claws and poisonous fangs like some shifters and beasts, but they had other means of doing harm. The burn scars littering her body were proof enough of that.

She was hoping to catch the other off-guard, but she was in the backyard, reading and looking up at the sound of her footsteps. Daiyu wanted to curse. She took one long look at the fae, trying to gauge the threat she formed. She was not jumping up, in stead looked up at her. She looked young. That wasn’t something that gave Daiyu pause when it came to murder, but the bounty was for someone older. Then again, faes aged weirdly, so maybe she was older than she looked. She moved closer. “Hello,” she said in response. “I didn’t know someone … lived here.” She did, though. She moved her hand to her backpack, sliding out the water bottle in a side pocket. Opening the cap, she went to take a sip. The true purpose of the water remained nebulous for now. “Don’t mean to intrude.” She did, though. 

— 

One of the biggest reasons Ayame had such an issue with her was because she didn’t recognize potential threats. Kasumi should have noticed there was something off about the woman in front of her, but the first thing she noticed was the rouge blotches that colored the apples of her cheeks. The sun hung at an awkward angle, making one of Kasumi’s legs warmer than the other. It snagged parts of the woman, too, illuminating the shine of her gaze. There was a glint of something that was lost on the nix as she pushed away from the waist-high rock wall. 

Kasumi looked around as the woman spoke. It would be odd to declare that she lived there, wouldn’t it? Was it typical for humans to assume somebody lived in the backyard they were spending time in? But she did live there, behind that house. In the house, when the windows weren’t frozen shut. It was rare for her to have visitors, and the front entrance probably contributed to that; tape and rotting vines blocking most from entry. 

“I do! Well, sort of, I guess.” She had no reason to be suspicious of this woman. In fact, wasn’t it grand that a human had decided to seek her out for conversation? “Are you from Deersprings? I didn’t see you at the potluck.” It was so long ago now that it was possible Kasumi hadn’t noticed her. The nix watched as the woman grabbed her water, taking a sip. Suddenly, her own throat felt dry. She should really be taking better care of herself. “You’re not intruding. Don’t worry.” She smiled at the woman, pulling her sleeves down over her hands. In response, the fabric around her neck tightened, to which she quickly reached up to pull that part of her sweater away, which in turn pulled her sleeves back up. 

— 

She took in the fae longer, trying to figure out why someone would sit like that to read. Rocks were fine to sit on for short periods of time, but not for long stretches. And reading? That had never been an activity Daiyu had had the focus for. She got impatient with how long the story took to unfold, longed for more stimuli. And yet here this nix was, sitting at her frozen pond, reading in the freezing cold and not even jumping up at her appearance. This wasn’t how hunts were supposed to start, with such calmness, and yet often they did. It made her feel wrong.

The other mentioned a potluck. Her mind went to a conversation she’d had with Regan about deer at a potluck. Had she and Jade been at that event with this fae? That was a thought best not considered properly, so she pushed it aside. This nix had drowned numerous humans, that was something to focus on. Or rather the price attached to proof of her death. Those were much better thoughts to be thinking. It was kind of detrimental anyway, that she was thinking — she should just be leaping into action.

“I’m from around, yeah,” she said, shrugging. The Pines did border this bit of the neighborhood, and the town was small enough for it not to be a lie. “Don’t like potlucks. People are shit at making food.” A potluck actually sounded like a fun thing to be at, but Daiyu did not want her neighbors to know her. She did not want anyone to know where she lived, but that was something she had grandly fucked up. She mirrored the other’s smile, though hers looked less genuine. She moved closer, over the bridge, and leaned over the railing, looking down at the fae on the rocks. Her hands hung over it, the bottle aimed at the other. Daiyu squeezed, a spray of water aimed at the fae. The bounty asked for proof in unglamoured form, after all.

— 

The backyard was sprawling with dead plants and torn vines from where critters had decided to take from nature to make their nests. Where Kasumi stood now was to the left of the pond, which with some weight might have broken open to unveil very frigid water, but she hadn’t bothered yet, not when the air was still too cold. If one were to take one path towards the house, it’d bend in two directions; one towards a door that remained unopened, and towards a small wooden bridge big enough for one person at a time. The bridge hung just above where Kasumi stood now, and she looked up at the woman as she hung her arms over the sides. 

If this weren’t their first time meeting, Kasumi might have asked for a sip of the water. Was that rude in human circles? To ask for something like that? She would have to ask if the woman in front of her thought of it as rude or not. Not now, but maybe later, after some conversation. “The food wasn’t terrible. Then again, I’ve never been very picky. There were plenty of sweets, so I gravitated towards those, mostly.” She smiled up at the woman– something real and genuine that reached her eyes, echoing enough joy or something akin to it for the both of them. “You should try to go next time. It might surprise you.”

What she hadn’t expected was being sprayed in the face by the water bottle the other woman was holding. Kasumi sputtered, raising her hands to wipe the water off of her face. It was too late to turn away now, especially with the way that her company was poised. The water had practically soaked the crown of her head all the way to her neck. Her glamor fell away, revealing pointed fish-fin like ears. Her skin was no longer smooth and of one color; instead, the white and orange splotches covered her face, and if the woman were close enough, revealed something that could be reminiscent of fishscales. “Oh– fates, I’m–” She turned away from the woman, quickly pulling the sweater up to pat her face dry. Her hands were wet now, too, absorbing the liquid from her sweater. Claws replaced nails, and webbed fingers made an appearance as she hurriedly tried to regain her glamor.

—

The other spoke of this potluck with something that seemed genuinely joyful. It reminded Daiyu vaguely of Jade, who probably would have enjoyed such an occasion in earnest too. Maybe if she didn’t have Jade as living proof that people could like such get togethers, she would think the other was the biggest performer of their generation. In stead, she figured that the other might be sickenly sweet and easily amused by other people, even if they were neighbors. The mere suggestion of having to hang out with her neighbors was enough to give Daiyu cold shivers. And it wasn’t just because Wyatt was among them. 

She frowned at the notion that next time she ought to come and be surprised, not quite trusting the words. The other did not know she was here to kill her, otherwise she surely would have gotten up, but she was still a murderous fae. Daiyu approached every spoken word with hesitation, and let the conversation about a potential next Deersprings neighborhood potluck fizzle out.

She watched in stead how the water transformed the human-looking woman into something not-quite. It reminded her vaguely of H2O: Just Add Water, which she had seen a few episodes of as a child, the way she was revealed to be something else at the mere touch of water. Skin turned into scales, orange spots on her face, and Daiyu’s first association with the appearance was a koi fish. The fae moved to hide her true form and she did not bother to do anything with the muttered words, in stead observing quietly. She dropped her bottle, moved her free hand to the holster that held her throwing knives and rested it there. The bounty had called for a catfish, and this was not anything like the mud-grey fish with whiskers. Hesitation laced her features and she stood there, watching the fae dry herself off, just like in H2O. She pulled out one of her knives, fingering the handle more out of habit than action. She did not know what to do.

— 

Kasumi wasn’t certain if the woman had meant to spray her with the water bottle or not. From the expression she’d caught on the woman’s face before she turned around, there was some kind of intent there, but that could have meant anything. Maybe this had been her house, before Kasumi had taken over. Or, maybe she had wanted to claim it for herself. Not once did it cross the nix’s mind that the dark haired woman might be there to kill her. 

She missed the warning signs– the silence, as it swallowed the two of them whole as she hurriedly tried to dry herself off. Her sweater was soaked now, and each breath felt like needles against her skin. Kasumi had managed to at least regain glamor over her face, and perhaps that was a good thing. To meet her own kind of blade with that of the strange woman’s, even if she didn’t know she might need it. “I’m sorry,” she muttered, clearly distressed, though still ignorant to the intent. 

With a deep breath, she pulled up the bottom half of her sweater, wiping her hands, but her sleeves were soaked, so it wasn’t making it easy. Kasumi finally turned to look at the woman now that her face was secure with the glamor. “You dropped your–” Her eyes caught the glint of the knife. “Is that for me? She asked, far more curious than she was angry. She’d been a child of wonder, and it showed clearly, even now. Kasumi looked from the knife up to the woman. “I’m not certain what I’ve done to deserve it.” She let out a breathy laugh. “Or, is this… is this what humans say a break in is like? But you found me out here, with nothing. What do you want?” 

— 

There was no point in murdering this fae. There was plenty to say about the general utility of murder to begin with, which Daiyu preferred not to think about. Hunters undid themselves by getting sucked into such thought processes and she had found a way to cease that destructive process by taking bounties. The point in murder was the money. This was not the right fae. There was nothing to gain from taking her life.  

But she was standing there. She had come here prepared and now she had made herself a suspect in front of someone who should never have seen her. Too many people in town knew she was a hunter. Too many knew her true name. Too many were caught up in some kind of scheme against her. She did not need this. The fae was apologizing to her and Daiyu wanted to laugh at it, at the way it was said with such ease but with so little meaning to it. What was she supposed to do with a sorry, when she was the one bringing potential risk to herself and the other. 

Her knife fell. The other saw it and addressed it and made this an interaction she could no longer walk away from with the hope of coming off as just a weird stranger. Now she was a weird, threatening stranger with a knife. “No,” she said curtly, “It is not. I thought … I was looking for someone else. You are not them.” Daiyu rubbed her nose for a moment. If she had tracked the fae the bounty called for here, then others might follow. Some might not be as exclusively motivated by money as her. “You're not … don't worry. I'm not here to break in or do anything to you.” She bent down to grab her knife. “Just at the wrong place.” A beat. “I've got a shit sense of direction, you know?” 

 — 

Kasumi watched the woman closely. She didn’t want to hurt anyone. She didn’t like to, even if it was in a nix’s nature to enjoy the occasional drowning. Where most of her aos si excelled with ruthlessness, she had always lacked the ability. Her empathy and understanding was one of the things that her grandmother hated most about her, but she wore it as a badge of honor; proud to be the one others might turn to. They never did, of course. There was no leader back home, but Ayame was certainly the most influential. 

“Oh.” The woman said it so matter-of-factly that Kasumi felt compelled to trust her, but the issue still remained; there was a knife, and what use was a knife but to draw blood? To cut into things, to divide it from flesh and bone? But Kasumi wanted to believe this stranger, if not for herself, than to appease some divine power that she wasn’t yet through with her task at hand. (Never mind that she just wanted to live.) 

“I see. I’m still learning the town as well.” That made sense, didn’t it? That the woman had taken a wrong turn? The knife was being swept into her hands, and Kasumi had half a mind to ask her to leave it on the ground, but she had already said it wasn’t meant for her, hadn’t she? Her mouth was suddenly very dry, and she inhaled sharply, which didn’t do anything to help the matter. “Where did you mean to go?” If the knife wasn’t meant for her, then it was certainly meant for somebody else, wasn’t it? “You shouldn’t.” They were two strangers, and one of them was clearly lying, but Kasumi pushed to see the truth that could potentially be threaded through her words. “Get lost, I mean. It’s not safe.” Her hands were still weapons in their own right, and she tucked them closer to her, pulling the heavy water logged sleeves with them. “And you should clean that up.” She motioned towards the water bottle, then looked back up at the woman. 

— 

Daiyu lacked the sentiment that her opponent held. There was nothing within her that was decidedly against hurting others. She wasn’t particularly in favor of it either, with an exception here and there. Sometimes she got so lost in the moment or an emotion that hurting others (usually a specific other) became what she desired. But right now? She was not particularly keen to draw her knife across the other’s body or bring it down in a vital organ or two. Her mind flashed to Talia on her living room floor and how good it had felt when her knife had sunk through her flesh, but she pulled herself back to the awkward encounter she was in now. 

Either the fae across from her was naive and thick in a way that was beyond human understanding, or she was playing a game with her. Daiyu figured it was the latter — though she knew fae could not lie, she knew there was plenty of performing to be done. She slid the knife back where she had gotten it from, staring at the other as she tried to figure her out. Maybe the best thing to do was just leave, but she would grow restless if she went without figuring out the threat the other posed first. 

“A different house,” she said curtly, “Somewhere on … decompe lane.” That was the only street name she new in this neighborhood, on account of Jade living there. At the advice the other offered, she gave a look of bemusement. “You’re so right. Super unsafe, might walk into someone with a bigger knife.” She had never been warned against getting lost due to safety issues after just tucking away a knife. Daiyu gaze went to the bottle and then back to the fae. “It’s just water. It will dry. I… didn’t mean to make you wet. I mean.” She clearly had. “Not you. The other person, that’s who I — Jesus, fuck. You’re gonna get sick if you don’t put something dry on.” 

— 

This entire situation was a warning for what could happen when a stranger was trusted so easily, and somewhere deep down, Kasumi knew that. But the knife had been put away, and the woman was doing… some form of apologizing. It didn’t feel the same as when others did it. It was like there was still something on the edge of the woman’s mind, something else she wanted to say, but wouldn’t. Kasumi understood that, to say the least, even if not in the usual way.

“A different house,” Kasumi echoed, nodding. “Okay.” She was familiar with the street. She was familiar with a lot of the streets in Deersprings, now. She followed them, getting to know each individual neighbor. After the potluck, it’d been easier, inserting herself into conversations. Many people watched from their windows, she realized. For a moment, Kasumi feared for the pale haired fae, and if the knife this woman carried had been meant for her, instead, but the bush dweller was probably safe. At least, she hoped. After this interaction, Kasumi would go from door to door in an attempt to find her, and at least warn her. 

“There are bigger knives. Yours was… so-so.” She wanted to make light of the situation, to see this for what it wasn’t, but it was glaringly obvious that this woman was dangerous– Kasumi just refused to let that be the only thing she took away from this interaction. What kind of person would she be if she only saw the bad in others? “I don’t have anything else.” She looked down at herself. If it weren’t for the cold, the clothes would’ve probably been on their way to drying already, but the temperature was keeping them damp. “I’ll figure it out. I’m not worried.” Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth, and her throat burned at the lie. “Maybe you shouldn’t look for them. Maybe this was a sign.” She said it simply, moving towards the bottle. She picked it up, turning it over in her hands. There was still some liquid inside, so she raised it, “mind if I take a sip?” Without an answer, she drained the remnants, glad for the relief. She held it up, then, towards the woman. “Here.” 

— 

It seemed the other was accepting her half-truths for truths, at least. Daiyu had no idea where the fae she was hunting was, if this was where she had ended up. She wondered how she had ended up on the wrong track, why she had been so certain that the fae had lived in this house. When hunting them, she expected trickery and other bullshit, but this was not exactly trickery. This was just a fae, reading a book near a pond, not even properly reacting to the knife or trying to pull her into some kind of bind.

At least, not yet. The way she was speaking, the way she carried herself, it all reeked of both awkwardness and wariness. She did not trust what she was faced with, even if she was objectively the untrustworthy person here. When the other insulted her knife, she stared at her for a moment, as if hit out of left field. This was the kind of banter she was familiar with among her own ilk, not with her opponents. She let out a laugh, that was really more than a guffaw. “You know, it’s really more about what you do with the knife than how big it — ew.” She was realizing the innuendo was she was saying it, even though she hadn’t meant it. She covered her face.

She raised her brows at the rest of what the other said. She had no other dry clothes? Daiyu knew that some fae lived far from humans at times, but even that seemed strange to her. “You should have more clothes than that. A coat, too. For … rain. And when people throw water on you.” She looked up at the sky before back at the fae. She was drinking from the bottle. That mess. She was frozen for a moment, before kneeling down slowly. She was anticipating anything, ready for the olive branch to become a weapon to cut her down for her walking into this backyard. It felt like a trap, even if the other’s performance was convincing. She reached forward and took the bottle. Nothing happened. She pressed her lips together in a tight line. Now closer to the fae, she was forced to take better stock of her features and the situation Daiyu had helped put her in. What the other was saying was stupid and wishy-washy. “Maybe. Maybe I’m just bad at following directions.” A beat. “Maybe something led me astray. To you.” It was as much of a warning as she could give, because she still did not understand how her tracking had led her here. 

— 

“Ew?” Kasumi wasn’t sure why the woman had cut herself off. She wasn’t entirely sure where she was going with the comment to begin with, and maybe it wasn’t important, but a small part of her had wanted to know what the other was going to say, especially because it’d been her that had gotten the knife pulled on her. “Are you embarrassed?” It was said after a brief moment of silence as Kasumi observed the other; her hands covering her face in a way that showed the pink of her cheeks. It could’ve been from the cold, or maybe by the sentence she hadn’t finished. “About that, or about being in the wrong place?” Kasumi had shed her ability to feel embarrassment, only because she’d never get anywhere in life with it hanging over her head. 

“Does that happen often here? People throwing water at others?” Kasumi was learning so much about Wicked’s Rest that it felt… dizzying, almost. That it felt like every time she did learn something new, something else contradicted it. But maybe that was because the information was coming from different sources. “But no, I know. I know that, it’s just– not that simple.” She had no money, was what she was trying to say. There were some clothes in the house she’d been residing in, but most of them were for summer, and the winter chill was very much still hanging onto her. 

Kasumi blinked, looking from the woman’s face, to her hands. The two of them put together showed just how inhuman she was, she realized. Her iridescent scales scattered light beneath the low setting of the sun. Her claws were sharp compared to the dull (and lack of) length to the woman’s. “They say that in books, you know. This one.” She motioned towards the book sitting on the rock behind her. “Not exactly like that, but kind of like that.” With a breath, Kasumi took a step back, folding her arms against herself again to try and warm her hands. “I’m Kasumi.” The vague interest she had in the woman had developed into something different, especially now that the knife had been put away. “What..” A brief pause, “did you expect? Here. If not me, I mean.” 

— 

Daiyu was, in fact, embarrassed. There was nothing about this scenario that wasn’t at least a little discomforting after all, from the water she’d squirted on the other to the fact that she was in the wrong place. Never mind the way her cheeks almost burned childishly at the almost-innuendo, her tolerance for this kind of conversation low. And now the other seemed confused, leaving Daiyu to have to explain herself. She opted out. “I’m not fucking embarrassed,” she snapped, finding the line of questioning very grating. It was a kind of confrontational she could not appreciate. “So about nothing. Get that out of your head.” 

Squaring her shoulders, she tried to gain some more control over the situation. The way the fae spoke to her was so strange and unbecoming that she did not know how to act. “Yes, all the time. It’s like a time honored tradition in this place. And you know, rain.” That was a great sentence. Daiyu felt the embarrassment snake up in her nervous system and she could only respond with anger. At herself, but also at this fae who was not even jumping to the proper offense at her appearance. “How is it not that simple?” The question was asked with some vitriol 

and she did not notice the curiosity beneath it. “It’s clothes.”

She did not often see unglamoured fae up close. Daiyu had seen shifters partially shifted, but there was something else about this. She eyed the claws with care, ready to block any swipe that would attempt to slice at her skin. With the bottle back in her hands she felt a little calmer, but she remained crouched. If only to show she was not scared. “I don’t read,” she muttered, eyeing the book with little interest. She was sure books said all kinds of things that resonated with people, but Daiyu was not looking to be resonated with. She did not want insight. She struggled enough with the mirror some shitty action movies held up. “I’m … Daria. And someone else.” She grit her teeth. “Someone —” She eyed Kasumi for a bit longer. If she had found her in her attempt to find the other nixie, others might come. Others who did see a point in murdering Kasumi. And it wasn’t like she cared if the other were to meet some unfortunate end – right? – but she still felt twisted up inside. “There are other people looking for her. Might be that they end up here too.” She understood it suddenly. Kasumi seemed lost. And Daiyu felt strange thinking about people finding her only to pose a threat. “What do the books say?”

— 

Kasumi nodded slowly, gaze unmoving from the woman’s frame. All of the signs pointed in that direction, but she insisted she wasn’t embarrassed. Kasumi wasn’t the type to die on any kind of hill, unless she truly believed in something. Plus, she figured arguing with the person who had a knife (though, meant for somebody else) might not be the smartest thing either. “It’s gone. I won’t think you’re embarrassed.” Her throat burned, only minimally. She could look past the embarrassment, because clearly that in itself had made the brunette even more so. 

“Oh. I guess I’ll have to keep that in mind.” Kasumi didn’t like the idea of so many water bottles being wasted for the sake of soaking others, especially if knives were involved, but if that was the way Wicked’s Rest did things, then maybe she would need to fall into line with the town’s practices as well. “The rain makes sense. It rains a lot here.” That had been something she looked up. It was for her own sake, really – the last thing that she wanted to have happened was getting caught in the rain and having her glamor fall down. She’d been perfecting it, but there was nothing she could do against water. “it’s not simple because I don’t have a lot of money. You need money to buy more clothes, right?” Her tone shifted, though completely shy of anything snippy– more inquisitive, if anything. “I have the clothes I have, and I’ll… be fine with them, for the meantime. When it gets warmer, I’ll repurpose them.” Surely, she’d need to invest in an umbrella.

“You don’t read?” She sounded unsure, like the words sounded wrong as she said them. Kasumi’s brows knit together as she tried to understand the concept of somebody not reading. That had been something she’d found out by trying to get people to sign up for library cards after a day of being told that hardly anyone came in anymore. “That’s a little strange. But I guess there are other things you can do.” She paused, looking at who she now knew as Daria. “What do you do? If you don’t read. Besides… getting lost and confronting people with knives, and continuing the time honored tradition of spraying water at others.” She was curious to know. It was all a part of learning, wasn’t it? Of understanding humans? What she should’ve done was threaten Daria, or run in the opposite direction, but those actions hadn’t even crossed her mind, only because it felt moot. Was it not ultimately better to understand? At the mention of others possibly showing up, Kasumi frowned. “I hope not. I don’t have anywhere else to go.” She looked around, then briefly at the brunette. She should’ve worried for her fellow fae, for the nix that might catch Daria’s blade. Perhaps she’d find her on her own terms, tell her others were looking for her. “Maybe you can tell them that there’s nothing here. The people you’re worried about.” After a brief pause, she looked back towards the book, then padded over to the rock. 

She picked it up, flipping to the dog-ear’d page. “They’re fishing. For trout.” 

— 

The other was better than her, that much was clear. Daiyu would have taken any signs of embarrassment in an opponent and ran with it, using it against them. But this Kasumi was agreeing to not think that she was embarrassed. She wasn't even teasing her about it. Strange, considering the way Daiyu had arrived here with a knife and a water bottle with an intent to kill. Anything the other could use against her, she should take, by all rules of logic. Especially a fae, she figured. But in stead she just went along.

“Rains too damn much here,” she said in agreement, even if part of her liked rainy days. It just depended on what was on the docket and whether she'd have to be outside in wet, sticky clothes for long. There was nothing like a hot shower after getting soaked, after all. Or running around with Nugget in the rain. Daiyu listened as the other went on, explaining that she was low on cash. That was something she could understand, at least. But through her bounties, she'd always managed some level of income. Even in the most dire of times. “Sure. I guess you do, unless you wanna steal. There's probably some places that offer free clothes. To those … less fortunate.” She understood not wanting to take that kind of help either, though. If Daiyu understood anything, it was a self-sabotaging level of pride. “What about when it gets colder again? Just repurpose that thing over and over again?” She sounded incredulous, if not almost bemused.

“No. I don't like it.” Reading was agitating and frustrating. She wasn't good at it and it took too long. Sometimes even long Instagram captions were too much for her. “Prefer movies. Walking around. Listening to music. Surfing and bouldering. That kinda thing. Burger eating.” She wasn't sure why she was offering this kind of intimate insight into her life. There were only so few boulder spots in town, and she was giving Kasumi plenty of ways to track her down now. Talia had tracked her to a burger spot, after all. She needed to be more nebulous about her hobbies. Daiyu thought for a second about what Kasumi was saying, that she could just tell other hunters to not bother with this spot. “Maybe,” she said with a shrug, not wanting to commit to anything. She might encounter some hunters that were after the same bounty and let them know that this corner in Deersprings was useless, but she wasn't going to go out of her way. That would get a little too close to caring, and once she'd admit to doing that, she was bound to end up in a more confused state.

Her eyebrows raised up, then creased into a frown. “Geez, and you're reading about that? Sounds fucking boring. Fishing is boring as is, but to read about it?” She exhaled with great force to express how dull that sounded, shaking her head. “Man.”

— 

Humans had such an interesting outlook on nature. One would think it rained too much, while others would complain that it didn’t rain enough. It wasn’t confusing, when looked at from an objective standpoint, but Kasumi didn’t have the means to be objective, not when she was meant to take in all human-ness. At least, that’s how she had understood the assignment. Either way, Kasumi knew it was a non-issue where Daria was concerned. She didn’t seem that invested in explaining further; whether she liked it or hated it, whether it was a good thing or bad thing. It didn’t matter. 

“I am not going to steal.” Her chest burned. “Right now.” She already had. There’d been years where she and her aos si stole from human communities. What would a human do against a fae with razor sharp claws, or teeth that could easily sink into flesh? But when Kasumi, herself, stole, it was never with intention. It was typically by accident, or without the thought of theft behind it. “I have plenty. Of what I need, and some of what I don’t.” Like the batteries that were still buried beneath the ground. She’d need to figure out how to remove them. They were too large for her to get out by herself, but aside from Daria, nobody had stepped foot here. “I will visit the ones giving out things for free and see if I can use anything.” She wasn’t naive enough to believe that free actually meant free, but when she was left with so little choice, what did it matter? Kasumi shrugged. “It will be awhile before it gets colder again. If it does, I will find something from the free people you mentioned.” She gestured vaguely in no real direction, but to show the effort of listening to the advice she was being given. 

One of the first things Kasumi had been affronted with when it came to humans had been books. They liked to record their history, just as any living, sentient being did. It wasn’t uncommon for human books to end up in the aos si’s hands, though those were typically phased out for fae authors down the line, when muses got their hands on publishing houses. But not every human was attuned to wanting to sit with a book, and that’d been hard to digest for Kasumi at first, only because she could think of nothing better. “I do like music also. I’m not familiar with bouldering. I know surfing. I’ve–” She bit her lip, “have sort of participated in that.” She would watch as the other nix created waves where they’d ride the water with their bare feet. As the aos si moved, however, the bodies of water became increasingly smaller, making it harder to do so. That, and most of them had aged out of it. Kasumi missed watching others have the kind of fun she’d dreamt about. “We have something in common, too. I also love movies, and burgers. Music, too.” She offered a smile, not aware that maybe being alike wasn’t something Daria wasn’t looking for. 

Daria didn’t seem very concerned with keeping others at bay, and Kasumi wasn’t going to beg her to do so. If anything, she would find elsewhere to stay for a couple of days, and enlist the pixies to hide high in the trees to keep a watch on things. She would bribe them with jellybeans and corn dogs. They seemed to like those. “Well, I’m not going to make you. So… I’ll just keep an eye out.” She had learned that phrase, and she liked to use it now, especially with her head on a swivel. 

Kasumi laughed, and it almost sounded like a song. “Oh, no. That’s not what this book is all about. They are just doing this on the page I am at.” She looked at the paragraph again. “There’s a movie about this book. Maybe you should watch it. I haven’t seen it.” She doubted Daria would do as such, but Kasumi was curious about its integrity in comparison to the book. “It’s about a boy and his family who drank from a well, gaining immortality. There is more to it than the trout.” She shrugged, setting it back down. “Since you do not like to read, maybe the movie will treat you better.” 

—- 

From all she knew about fae – which was admittedly limited and certainly biased – she was certainly surprised that Kasumi said she wouldn’t steal. Fae were tricksters, weren’t they? What was to stop them, or anyone really, from a bit of justified thievery? Daiyu didn’t think too long on it, though, figuring that everyone had some lines they drew. Nixies were known to drown humans and others, but maybe stealing from a corporation was somehow not-done. She didn’t analyze why she did or didn’t do certain things, figuring that kind of overthinking to be dangerous for her state of mind, so she did not bother to do the same for this strange fae.

Because strange she was. Completely befuddling and admittedly disarming. With frustration, Daiyu reflected on all the information she had given her without threat or reason, as well as the slight warning of hunters to come. Hadn’t her friendship with Wyatt taught her that it was no good, getting friendly with those that were once her target? Not that she intended to interact with this Kasumi again, but intention and reality were often far apart in this small, stupid town. “Well, it’s your funeral,” she muttered, “Just remember that freezing to death is like the stupidest way to die. Totally avoidable.” It was phrased like an insult, but she caught the heart underneath it. Cursing herself mentally, she was getting ready to find a way out of this situation, wanting nothing more than to leave and cease talking forever. If this fae was as trickery as stereotypes would have her believe, she was only minutes away from walking in some verbal trap.

As she talked about all the things they had in common, Daiyu wondered what her agenda was. There had to be some. “Not very special. Ton of people like movies, burgers and music. There’s a reason those are lucrative industries.” She did not want to bond with a woman she had intended to kill no less than fifteen minutes ago. Actually, Daiyu didn’t want to bond with anyone any more, already fatigued enough of all the names and personalities she knew in town. Knowing her luck, Kasumi was already friends with a ton of people in her network, complicating the spidery web of her connections. she needed no more of that. 

Glad that the other didn’t try to argue her that she should tell people to stay away from a known fae home, Daiyu shrugged. From what she could gleam, Kasumi wasn’t a large threat to humanity, but plenty of dangers looked harmless at first. That didn’t mean she was going to sic some wardens on her, though. She was just going to walk away and forget all about this awkward business.

“Maybe,” she said non-commitally. She did try to glance at the book’s title, noting that she had not seen it before. Tuck Everlasting sounded somewhat superhero-y, but also potentially like something fanciful. She creased her brows at Kasumi’s description. “Well, that sounds stupid. Immortality is for idiots. Only a stupid family would try that.” Daiyu straightened her shoulders, squeezing her empty water bottle. “I hope they come to regret it, when the time comes. Might check out the movie.” She’d look at its Rotten Tomatoes page and decide against watching it. “Right then. You get back to the immortal trout and whatnot. I’ve got … business to attend to. Finding my way back, for one.”

—- 

Kasumi watched Daria, curious as to why it mattered to the other woman if she froze to death or not. Was it human instinct? To warn something of somebody, even after causing harm? Possibly. She’d read it in plenty of books; the woeful heroine at the end of the story and her opponent, of a warning caught to the wind where it’d ultimately end up in the villain’s demise. But, even though Daria had a knife, and had sprayed her with water, and had warned her of others’ intentions, and how they might find her, Kasumi didn’t think of her as much of a villain. Maybe it was reversed, in this case. “I will have no funeral, and I’ll be warm when winter comes again. Don’t worry.” Because, obviously Daria was worried about it if she had brought it up in the first place. 

“I never said anything about it being special. I just said we have something in common.” Was that not the essence of human experience? To have things in common with thy fellow man? Though, Daria knew she was not human, so perhaps the illusion was shattered for her. Kasumi had to wonder that if they’d met under different circumstances– if there was not a part of Daria that knew what she was already, would she have felt differently? Would she have talked further about movies, music, and burgers? Kasumi was left to feel only a little disappointed by the prospective conversation they could’ve had. It was silly, especially considering she had far more things to be upset about.

Kasumi was cold, her sleeves still soaked through. Her claws caught in the fabric of her sweater, and she frowned. She held on tightly to her forearms, an act of self-importance, she had deemed it. To seem taller, she mirrored the way Daria straightened up. “Immortality is only stupid if you can’t achieve it. But, I guess nobody really can.” Those who existed outside of mortality were bigger than she or Daria could envision. Even Kasumi knew that, and as a fae, she felt she had the high ground on that argument. But, at the end of the day, it was an argument that didn’t hold much weight, nor did it actually matter. “If you watch it, you might find out.” She pressed her lips together, looking Daria over. At the mention of figuring out how to leave, Kasumi let out a soft laugh. “That way.” She pointed with her index, the only finger not caught on the fabric. “Take a left. Don’t go out front.” 

—- 

She wasn’t worried. At least, she was telling herself she wasn’t. If some corpse would be found frozen to death in this backyard in seven months time, she would not care. It would just be another body among the many in Wicked’s Rest, another sod that died to exposure. She should not worry about it, so she didn’t. Daiyu glowered at the other’s reassurance, finding it almost offensive. Never mind the way she had told her not to freeze to death before. Never mind that she was never as hard as she tried to make herself. 

“You, me and the rest of the world. We all like those things,” she said, wanting to have nothing in common with the nixie she was sparing. Daiyu’s eyes went to her claws, that childlike envy for inhuman traits bubbling up and then cast it aside. Those claws were a weapon. Like a knife held in her hand. There was no point in finding the similarities between herself and the other. It was risky even, what with the other’s attempt at innocent that was certainly a trap. If she started seeing anything of herself in the other, she would cross a line she couldn’t come back from. She was letting her live, that was enough.

“Anyone who wants to achieve it is a fool,” she said. Wasn’t one of the hunters’ comforts that life would end? Weren’t they raised with the promise of a violent, and if lucky glorious, death? Daiyu did not wish to die yet, but she wanted to die inevitably. A life that did not end, a body that did not age — not only was it unnatural, it was unnerving. “But … enjoy your book.” She looked at Kasumi offering her aid to leave, which was completely ludicrous considering the knife of it all. “Yep, cool.” She swallowed any other words like thanks and started moving, not really needing the help to get out (as she had never been lost) and looking over her shoulder once to Kasumi with confusion riddling her mind.

[fruitr0ts]

CLOSED STARTER : @komposisi . FEATURING : kasumi mae.

"so, are you going to kiss me already?" kasumi's voice is laced with impatience as she peers towards the other. her face displays the opposite though. her pupils dilated with something deeper, needier. kasumi scoots slower, tilts her head and waits.

[heartbpm]

KASUMI CARDS? KASUMI CARDS? HELLO?

[foulfuryartisan]

シミケアクリーム【kasumi.（カスミ）】持続型ハイドロキノンで、シミを消します

シミの恐怖は待ったなし！！ シミの部分だけに集中してケアしてくれるkasumi.が新登場です。 なんといっても注目する成分は持続性ハイドロキノンを配合しているところです。   ハイドロキノンについて、少し詳しく説明しますね。 シミを薄くしたい、消したい、でも肌への刺激やトラブルはイヤ・・・・こんな望みに応えてくれる美白成分が持続性ハイドロキノンです。 ハイドロキノンは、格段に高い美白効果を持つ成分です。アメリカでは「スキンブリーチ」と呼ばれています。つまり、「肌の漂白剤」という事ですね。   日本では従来は医師が使うほどの成分でしたが2001年の化粧品の規制緩和以降は、コスメに配合されるようになりました。 「メラニンを作る酵素の働きを強力に妨げる成分。市販の美白成分の中では、最も早くシミに効く」そうです。   しかし一方で、短所もあったのです。 人によって一時的に刺激感を感じたり、肌が赤…

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[dreamkawaii]