Trouble-Maker at the Big Bath / / Open ]

[Raine.]]

A large ball of white fur flashed across the room, ramming into the wall, and nearly knocked a painting off of the wall. Quickly, Koori rolled back onto her paws, glanced around for any witnesses, and began running back over to one of the empty bath's. The big bath tub was still filthy, as none of the workers were willing enough to clean it themselves. Finding this the perfect opportunity to help out, Koori backed away a bit from the large tub, wiggled her bottom a few times before taking a great leap. When she landed in the tub, a great thud sounded and a few workers had stopped to see what had happened.

Koori flattened herself against the bottom of the tub, her round eyes wide. If they assumed she was causing trouble, they'd most likely throw her out back into the garden, where she was tempted to take a nice bite out of one or two or all of those juicy, squealing pigs; but she was allowed to touch none of them. So one could probably say it was torture to leave her out there. When the murmuring stopped outside of the tub, Koori got back up, a flurry of snowflakes surrounding her as she emerged as a human-looking girl.

"I forgot the bucket!" she whispered to herself, slapping her hand to her forehead. Looking down, the polar bear spirit realized that her entire front, as well as the bottom of her sleeves, were smeared with what dirty substances that were found inside the tub. Her sensitive nose wrinkled and her face screwed up at the disgusting scent. She looked out of the tub, where workers were hurrying by. How can I get to the buckets without letting them know? she thought, her eyebrows knitting together in concentration.

[torikkusuta]

A figure could be seen making its way across the bridge toward the bathhouse and everyone was making a riot yelling, don't let him in, stop him, and If he enters the bathhouse he'll be a coustomer and youhbahbbuh won't be pleased. But dispite the yelling and attempts the fox deflected them as if it were child's play and he crossed the thresh hold of the bathhouse.

It was youhbahbbuh who greeted him with a fake smile and a offputting scowle showing his dislike toward the fox spirit. "You know your not welcome here." She hissed between her clenched teeth.

"Aw that's no way to treat you old aprentis. Say? How's haku doing? Is he living up to my former glory." He sneared as he continued walking further in to the bathhouse. "I'll use the BIG TUB. And it better be CLEAN this time." He concluded with a widening grin.

[Raine.]]

The sound of complaints and yells could be heard all throughout the bathhouse. Koori's eyes brightened at the realization that the rest of the workers had averted their eyes to a single area: the entrance. Pouncing at the opportunity, the polar bear spirit dove for the bucket and scrambled back towards the big tub before anyone else could spot her. "Now, where are those bath tokens . . ." she muttered, patting her body for the wooden rectangles. "Aha!" Triumphantly, Koori hooked the token into place, giving the string a gentle tug.

A large block of the wall parted from its place and stopped above the tub. Prancing over, she gave the line that hung from it a great pull. Opaque, green water began rushing into the tub, the scent a bit revolting, but had an obvious effect on the sludge caked onto the sides and bottom of the bathtub. Pulling the line for the water to stop, Koori grabbed a shovel-like object and dove into the water. She began shoveling at the muck, watching as the dirt and the air bubbles it'd been trapping fly up to the surface. A few bubbles came from her own mouth, and she swam up, leaving the digger behind, for more air. When she broke the still surface of the water, Koori heard more voices. Yubaba and a stranger's. They weren't quite in the bathhouse yet, she was sure of this, but they were probably right at the entrance.

The word "big tub" and "clean" hit her eardrums loud and clearly. Panic entered her thoughts and the young bear glanced around frantically. What would Yubaba say if she saw Koori messing about in the guests' space again? Maybe she could hide. If I go out, the other workers are sure to see me! she realized. If the stranger was going to the big tub, nearly all eyes would be on the room with the big tub. It'd be impossible to escape with all those witnesses. What if I . . . No, the guest would sit on me if he's so big that he'd need to use the big tub! What if I . . . ? No. Dammit! Koori, at last, decided to stand directly at position beside the room's entrance. Perhaps Yubaba would allow her to work today.

[torikkusuta]

The riot seemed tol change from yelling to nervous offerings and whispers out of fear or discust for everyone knew of his pranks, tricks, and fox magic that left the place a total mess a few years ago. And every year since he has come back just to get under yobubah's skin and it worked every time.

"Ya know I think I will try a new type of dive into your bath seeing how its like my own personal swiming pool." He sneared as he grabbed the most expencive bath token he could from the vender and swished his tails. "I do love wasting all that water just so I can swim instead of bathe. And to think its your treat ever since I put that curse on you making you do what I say on week every year." He gloated with glee.

[Raine.]]

Yubaba's face twisted with pure disgust at that insolent fool's taunts. No one had a clue exactly how furiously irritated and pissed off the witch was, but the flames bursting from her mouth gave them all a bit of an idea. It wasn't too often a person was able to see her finally snap from anger, but this fox spirit could possibly be the one to break her. Old workers that'd been present the last few years Torikkusuta had been visiting were quite anxious about his visits now. "Get into the tub, and leave," the sorceress spat at him. Implying that he should speed through his little visit, Yubaba hoped desperately that no new visitors would enter while this one was still have his little fun.

Completely unaware of who was where and what was going on, Koori peeked outside of the big tub room. Hearing the stranger's words about having control over Yubaba made her have a small intake of breath. Eyes widening, she wondered if this was really the place she should be right now. If that spirit were to enter the room, how could she possibly handle it? Yubaba was obviously powerless against him. Her eyebrows knit together with concern, Koori backed away from the room's entrance. Where was her brother when she needed a distraction most? If this guest, or perhaps intruder, caused too much of a disturbance, would Yubaba blame it on her? The witch didn't seem so cruel, since she'd often treated Koori as a child, and she -- having her own Boh -- would never treat her in such a cruel manner . . . right?

Her heartbeat was fast and pounded against her chest, fear laced with worry caused cold beads of sweat to form on her forehead. Her parents would never forgive her if she brought down their family name by being kicked out of something as simple as a bathhouse. And her brother. She couldn't possibly allow him to be disgraced, as well. Right now, she wanted to curl into a large ball of white fur and roll away to somewhere else, somewhere safe, but she could do no such thing. There was a visitor, and he obviously needed help.

[torikkusuta]

The fox spirit only laughed at the fire and kept going. He rounded the corner and made his way into the bathing room. His outfit magically changed to a bathing suite.

"Hm that's odd. The bath is full. But the herbal content gives me a rash and my fur dries out and we can't have that can we." Torikkusuta said whimsicly as he drained the tub and filled it with the water from the bath token he snagged from the vendor. As he did this he paid so little attention he completely disregarded any sence that there was someone else in the room.

[Raine.]]

A tiny gasp came from her, along with a gulp as her widened eyes fell upon the figure of Torikkusuta as he easily drained the tub. It was quite clear that he'd been here more than just a couple of times, and Koori was more nervous than ever. After waiting a few seconds, she realized Yubaba wouldn't be coming in to help tend to the fox -- she'd have to handle this on her own. Chewing on her bottom lip, the polar bear spirit hesitantly reached out towards him, but never managed to actually touch him. "Ah, um . . . Excuse me," she said, her words a bit slurred, her voice soft and difficult to hear due to the sound of water flushing down the drain and being refilled with more liquid. "You . . . Do you . . ." Her face reddened as she failed to create a full sentence. A deep breath taken in, a large exhale, and she was at last a tiny bit calmer. Rash as she may be, this stranger seemed a bit too cocky, and it intimidated her quite largely.

"Please allow me to do my job, sir!" she exclaimed, bowing quickly before speeding upwards and, as she jumped onto the edge of the tub, the water was nearly full of water. Koori's large leap flew out of control, and pushed the other spirit into the water by accident. She grasped the rope and yanked hard, the water coming to a stop. Proudly, she shook the water off of her hands. For nearly five complete seconds, she hadn't responded until she'd at last heard the snickers that sounded all throughout the bathhouse. Wondering what was so funny, she pouted a bit -- she wanted to laugh, too. It surely wasn't fair for the workers to keep funny things to themselves. Glancing around, Koori realized that she'd shoved the visitor into the bathtub. "I'M SO SORRY!" she wailed frantically, her elbow up and hand held loosely against her mouth.

[Luna]

It was an odd thing to find that no one seemed to be around in the halls of the Bath House. It was usually bustling with workers or customers, all trying to reach their destination. Kazune's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Where was everybody? Weren't they supposed to be working?

Previously, he had been out in the garden. He liked to go there; the silence was a relief compared to the loud Bath House, where something was always going on. He wished sometimes that Koori would go with him--he liked to spend time with her whenever he could. But she wasn't too fond of being near the pigs; she had little self-control around them. But flowers were very interesting to him, and a peculiar blue one was put into his pocket in order to give to Koori later. He was sure it would make her smile; she would probably be working hard today and would deserve it.

Sensitive ears picked up a commotion, towards the front of the facility, and Kazune let his legs take him there. Standing before him was a furious Yubaba, and if looks could kill (or make multiple stab wounds), someone would be bleeding. Curiousity over-ruled his fear of the witch's wrath as he walked slowly towards her, curious eyes glancing around at the workers who had gathered around the door to the big bath. They must've had a strange guest today, he mused.

"Everything alright?" he asked Yubaba, stopping a couple feet away from her. It would be best not to anger her further, so he would wait and see if there was something she wanted done.

His attention was grabbed by the snickers of the workers around the door. His head turned quickly in that direction, silver hair whipping around with it. He raised an eyebrow in question, but everyone seemed too occupied with the object of their amusement to answer him. He tried to look around them, but he couldn't see into the room.

"I'M SO SORRY!"

His blood ran cold and his eyes widened; that was Koori.

[torikkusuta]

Moments passed without motion in the murkey water some of the guests were questioning weather he was alive. This went on for quite a while untill the silence was broken when a call rang out. "Mizu bunsan," and, "water disperse" could be heard at the same time as a spell was cast from within the water.

A being rose from the water that resembled a regular fox with multiple tails. It had golden fur and around him floted many beads and teeth. He would have looked like a god if it weren't for his teeth which seemed much too large for his mouth. To top things off a faint glow eminated from his mouth only adding to the demonic look dispite the fact his eyes were a soft green that alone would have made him look like a benevolent spirit.

He walked across the water toward the girl as if to say "Behold my true form". He then lowered his head to the girl's level he said, "its okay you were only trying to help." With a smile he returned to his humanoid form and stepped back to allow her to work.Moments passed without motion in the murkey water some of the guests were questioning weather he was alive. This went on for quite a while untill the silence was broken when a call rang out. "Mizu bunsan," and, "water disperse" could be heard at the same time as a spell was cast from within the water.

A being rose from the water that resembled a regular fox with multiple tails. It had golden fur and around him floted many beads and teeth. He would have looked like a god if it weren't for his teeth which seemed much too large for his mouth. To top things off a faint glow eminated from his mouth only adding to the demonic look dispite the fact his eyes were a soft green that alone would have made him look like a benevolent spirit.

He walked across the water toward the girl as if to say "Behold my true form". He then lowered his head to the girl's level he said, "its okay you were only trying to help." With a smile he returned to his humanoid form and stepped back to allow her to work.

Yubaba seemed enfuriated as if it were an insult that he lived. She yelled down, "how dare you! You did that on purpose and here I thought id be rid of you."

"Not today ya old hag!" Torrikusuta said with a smirk and a chuckle.

The entire room was in an uproar. Some were cheering and others were swearing at the fox spirit mainly because they valued their jobs and didn't want to suffer yubaba's wrath.

[Raine.]]

Koori's eyes were even larger than before as she watched the surface of the water tremble before a fox-like creature emerged. Identifying himself as that stranger who she'd accidentally pushed into the water. Blinking a few times, the polar bear spirit realized he'd reverted back to the original form she'd first seen him as, leaving her to do as she'd requested he allow her to do. Having refilled the tub, Koori glanced around her. The cleaning tools she'd brought were scattered about the floor, and her wooden basket was full of muck from the tub already. She'd have to get a second one. Bowing slightly, her voice said shakily, "Thank you, sir."

Sliding down from the giant bathtub, Koori grabbed the basket and speedily ran out, tackling her brother in the process. "Onii-chan!" Koori exclaimed, nearly dropping the gunk-filled container onto Kazune. Luckily, she maintained her balance (which could count as a miracle, truth be told -- her clumsiness, quite obviously, is often the culprit of many mishaps that happen in the bathhouse), and stepped backwards a few steps. "Sorry, I was in a rush to get a new basket," she said, gesturing with a little bob of her head to the one she held a bit unsteadily. "One of Yubaba's guests are here again. I don't think it's his first time, but the other workers seem a bit riled up about it, don't you think?"

Sighing, Koori placed the basket onto the floor, rotating her arms a few times. The crap that was piled sloppily was much heavier than she'd expected. It was a wonder to her how anyone could go back and forth various times for the entire day, cleaning that one tub without a single break. "So what're you doing in here, brother?" she asked, continuously rotating her shoulders. "Usually you're in the garden around this time of the day." After a few more stretches, the spirit heaved the basket up, hoisting it on her hip as she waited patiently for her twin brother's answer, a smile on her face as it so often laid.

[Luna]

Everyone of the workers were going completely insane; the voices took on positive notes, as well as scathing negative ones. Kazune, quite frankly, was not sure how he was to react; of course, he was also not aware of the goings on of that particular room. He had every intention of going to investigate, but he ran into a familiar being--quite literally.

He took a step backwards to balance himself out and to keep from falling, his arms reaching out instinctively to steady Koori, though she seemed to be able to steady herself on her own and his arms fell to his sides. He cringed slightly at the gunk in the bucket, and was quite pleased to find it had not spilled out upon him. His attention was drawn back to the room when she motioned towards it, asking him a question. "They certainly do," he muttered in reply, before turning back to look at her. He watched carefully as she stretched, frowning. If the bath were cleaned regularly, then when it was needed it wouldn't be such a hassle to get ready. Kazune shook his head lightly; some workers were far too lazy.

When she brought up the subject of him being there, he smiled again. "Actually," he said, digging into his pocket, "I found something I thought would make you smile." He pulled out the strange, nearly glowing blue flower he had found in the garden. "Interesting, isn't it?" He reached over and tucked it behind her ear, nodding in approval. Then he bent over and lifted the basket into his arms. "Let me take this," he told her. He glanced once more back at the bath. "What is this guest like, exactly? You've seen him, yes? I can't seem to get a good look," he told her.

[Raine.]]

Koori's eyes brightened instantly at the sight of the blue flower. Its color was vivid, and she bounced with excitement when Kazu nodded after setting the little treasure in place. Blue flowers are always the prettiest! "Thanks, Kazu!" she said happily. When her twin took the basket and asked her a question, the polar bear could only think. How could she explain?

"He's a fox spirit," she spoke slowly, trying to remember and word everything correctly. "I can't recall his name, but I do remember that he often takes form as a human, just like we do." Koori looked behind her, her eyebrows lifting, creating thin lines on her forehead. "He's certainly a strange guest. I accidentally pushed him into the tub filled with water earlier -- didn't get mad at all. Odd, wouldn't you agree, Nii-chan?" Her long hair moved in waves as she skipped towards the room that held all of the materials.

Her finger directed Kazune towards the door leading outside, where a drain was often used to pour down dirty substances from the tubs that couldn't be washed away down the smaller bathtub drain. She pranced over to the messy pile of other baskets and picked up an overturned one. "Oh, Kazu, are you going to help me today?" she asked cheerfully. Though the girl wasn't quite positive, Koori was partially sure that her brother would say yes -- after all, this was an unknown guest she was trying to care after; her clumsiness could possibly lose their parents a place to keep the twins while they were gone.

Koori, while waiting for her brother's answer, began gathering the other things she'd need to use for Torrikusuta, the peculiar fox spirit who she'd never yet seen before, in the big bath, placing them all into the wooden basket she'd set on the floor. Her mind raced to the moment, not very long ago at all, when she'd been joyously running about the bathhouse. Wondering if her parents would've been proud of her for taking on this responsibility, Koori knew it was most definitely risky.

[Luna]

((I know Trick doesn't have any ideas, but I ended so that Torikkusuta could jump back in if so wanted. Haha sorry it took so long to reply!))

A fox spirit, hm? Kazune didn't exactly like the sound of that. Foxes, in general, were sly creatures. A fox spirit shouldn't be any different, though he wasn't one to judge something he had yet to meet. He would keep his eyes on Koori, though. Trusting foxes was not a wise thing to do, but something she would do. He was going to be careful, like always, and look out for her.

A slight smile twitched its way onto his face. That's what everyone was laughing about, then? Koori pushing the guest into the bath? A soft, breathy laugh came from him. He wouldn't expect anything less from his twin. "It is strange. He must be patient," he replied, shifting the bucket in his arms as the two walked. He followed Koori's finger with his eyes, deducing that this was where the bucket needed to be dumped. He nodded in thanks and made his way towards that door leading outside. He opened it and squatted, pouring the grotesque substance slowly as to not make a mess. While doing this, he heard Koori ask him a question, as to whether he was going to help her or not today. While the thought of cleaning the big bath wasn't a pleasant one, and it wasn't how he had reviously wanted to spend his day, he didn't want Koori to do it by herself. Especially with this strange new guest around.

"Of course," he answered, standing up with a now empty bucket and smiling over at Koori. He waited for her to gather all of the things that were neccessary before moving down the hall again, the destination this time being the big bath. He expected Koori to be following him, so he didn't bother looking back.

Around the opening of the big bath, most workers had gone back to whatever work they were doing before. The few straglers that were left quickly vanished when he told them to go do something productive and to stop gawking. He walked into the bath with a polite smile on his face. "Good day, sir."

[torikkusuta]

Trick gave a sly grin to the newcomer who greeted him. "Hello." He said casually despite himself, for the grin erased any sence of innocence he might have had. As the spirits left to do their job torrikusuta looked up to where an angry presence seemed to be burning into his skull only to see yubaba glareing down at him. Fire was steadaly radiating from her mouth as she spat her hatefull venomous words under her breath. Her gaze sent a chill down trick's spine.

he eventually dosed off while waiting for the twinns to finnish. While he slepped his dreams at first clouded cleared. He was in a dark void with only one thing else in sight, a black distorted image of himself. The copy wore his cursed mask which had once been his *ball. Through the eye slots of the mask two red peirsing eyes burned a sinister red. Billowing from his mouth was a black smoke that rose slowly between razor sharp teeth.

The dark spirit growled," you can't run forever I'll eventually get to you everytime you fall asleep I get closer even now I draw near."after declareing this the spirit dissapeared only to reapear right in tricks's face the shock awoke him to the real world but the voice didn't go away it echoed the word closer until it was to quiet to hear. As he awoke he realized not much time had passed. The twinns had almost finnished their work and yubaba had left while he slept all seemed normal around him. Trick made a silent wish that all would be fine and he would never be used to destroy humanity but his wish was in vain because sooner or later he would have to fight the spirit within.


*ball: every kitsune has an sperical object called a sutaboru it acts as a sourse of power and as a leash if someone steals it they have complete controll over the fox but shoud the fox get his ball back he will get revenge 3x worse than anything the human did to the fox. In the case of trick his ball was cursed by an evil spirit who strives to controll him. Trick has to sleep lightly to keep the spirit away.

[Raine.]]

"Thanks, Kazu!" Koori smiled a toothy grin at him, her pointed canines showing clearly. Her eyes shined happily; her older brother didn't often join her in working around the bathhouse, so she thought this as a special occasion. Why he was joining her, however, she did not know. Wondering if it had something to do with the guest itself, Koori pranced alongside with Kazu to the bath room.

When the fox spirit revealed his sly grin, Koori's eyes had already averted elsewhere, completely missing the chilling look. Humming to herself, Koori began her work, glancing at Kazu. "Nii-chan," she called over to him cheerfully. "Can you please pass the scrub over here?" As the two worked, the polar bear spirit noticed their guest falling asleep over Yubaba's harsh words. She wondered why the large sorceress was so wound up about this particular guest, but decided to keep it to herself and planned to ask Yubaba about it later. Koori then noticed that Torrikusuta was now asleep. Pondering if she should wake him up, she looked at her brother with the silent question clear on her face.

When the stranger woke, however, she noticed that his expression was far from relaxed. "Are you okay, sir?" Koori asked, her eyes widening. She hopped up onto the big tub's circular edge, keeping excellent balance (only because she wasn't thinking about how she was standing, what she was standing on -- if she thought about it, she'd most likely fall into the tub and embarrass herself by being such a clumsy spirit) as she leaned in half a foot away from the guest's face in a mix of worry and curiosity.

For a few seconds, Koori stared intensely at his face, with a bit of a fierce, polar bear-ish glare. After about five seconds, the cub burst out laughing, rolling backwards in a white ball of fur to the ground with long, silver hair. "Onii-chan, our guest has such a funny face up close!" she laughed with great and innocent amusement.