Flower's return [open]

The woman walked up the long staircase, taking her time as she did. Her white hair was extremely long, longer then it had ever been before. Her blue eyes stared up at the gates at the top of the stairs. A purple cloth wrapped around her body completely, she didn’t want anyone to see the state she was in right now. Looking up, she let out a sigh, her lips parting and forming in to a soft smile.

“It truly has been a long time, hasn’t it…”

Clutching the purple cloth around her, she sped up slightly, walking at a normal pace now. She wondered what Aso was up to these days. What if he had gotten married to someone in the village? No, no he wouldn’t do that… would he? She put those thoughts out of her mind for now, she couldn’t that right now. Having reached the top of the stairs, Aki ventured off in to the grass, and a rose poked up from the ground in front of her, reaching full growth in less than a minute. Smiling, Aki leaned down and plucked the lovely flower from the ground before straightening up, looking up at the large statues before her. A sad smile broke across her lips, she had been away for a long time, would anyone even remember her? Her voice floated out of her, soft and caring.

“Home sweet home.”

"Hmm hmm hmm hmm, hmm hmm hmm hmm, hmm-hmm-hmm, hmm-hmm…"

A young male, clearly male, so obviously male that masculinity practically exuded from every one of his feminine manly pores, was walking down the street on this fine summer's day within the Iramasha Island. He felt like something really good was going to happen today, and he didn't want to miss whatever it was that was going to happen, so he kept his eyes wide open.

It turned out that his intuition was not wrong, as it usually was not. He was rewarded with the sight of a young girl, standing off by herself. "Oooi!!" His voice called out, echoing out over the area as he bounded over to her. "Hello there! You look very familiar, so I thought I'd come by and say hello. Perhaps if you would be so kind as to enlighten me with your name, I would be able to recall all that I know of you!" He told her happily, retaining his forceful stance. However, without warning, his Seishin Buki crawled out from behind him, landing on his shoulder with a dull "oomph". It reached over to Aso's ear and began to tug on it, and so he was forced to look over at the spirit.

It whispered into his ear, and his eyes widened. 'You wouldn't be…" He stopped for a moment, before suddenly crashing into her with a hug, a very affectionate one, before backing away, smiling. "It's been too long! Aso Gadian, at your service, miss!" He told her with a smile and a flourish, and if he had had a hat it would have been quickly dothed in her direction. As it was, all he was able to give her a very servitude kind of gesture, or what he hoped indicated servitude, as he looked up at her with a smile, waiting for her to speak again. It had been far too long since they had talked, and she had always ben one of Aso's good friends, before she vanished…

A situation which had quite worried him, quite worried him indeed…

As Aki heard someone call out to her, she turned around only to be greeted by Aso. She smiled happily, and it seemed to take a moment for him to recognize her, at which point her jump forward, knocking in to her with a hug. He managed to knock off the purple cloth she had wrapped around herself, and she just barely managed to grab it before it was blown away. However, the state of her body was revealed, and to anyone who knew her it would be shocking. Scars from hundreds of injuries covered her arms as if she had been attacked by some sort of animal. Her clothing had cuts in multiple places; the whole left sleeve of her shirt was missing, ripped to shreds by the looks of it. She looked sadly at her body, clutching her left arm tightly with her right hand. However, the strange part was the scars. Aki had the ability to cure almost any injury with the herbal remedies she could make, why hadn’t she healed these? Well, she knew the answer to that, and it was painful to think about. Looking it to Aso’s eyes, she smiled warmly, removing her right arm from her left and giving him a one handed hug.

“I’m glad to see you Aso, it truly has been too long, hasn’t it? How many years has it been since I had to…”

She cut off, her thoughts elsewhere. Even if it was Aso, she wasn’t sure if she should tell him what had kept her away for so long. Releasing her hug on him, she wrapped the cloth around herself again, moving her left arm as little as possible. Looking up at him, her smile seemed slightly sadder than before.

“Don’t worry too much about those injuries, they’ll go away eventually. They’re only the most recent ones, just from the past year or so. Anyway, I’ll be fine, how about you help me around and show me what’s changed since my… withdrawal.”

She hoped he wouldn’t ask too many questions, not right now at least. Perhaps at a later time she could tell him what had happened to her, but first she wanted to rejoin the normal life within the Iramasha clans. Poking the rose through the ends of the cloth, she used it to secure it around her body before offering her right arm to Aso, waiting to see if he would take it.

Scars… Aso noted to himself dimly, noting the many marks that covered the skin of Aki's arm. '...yes, far, far too long." He said simply, listening to her words, before watching her covering herself back up with the cloth. "...I guess I can't dress you up any more, huh?" He asked her weakly, a bit woozy at the sight of the scars. Aso did not handle blodo well; after all, he was a defender, one who protected. To see such things wasn't common for him, and it was his line of work to prevent them from being able to happen.

"I'll worry as long as they're there, because it looks like they're keeping you from being open with yourself." He said simply, still looking at her with a calm gaze, before she asked him to show him what all had changed. "Well, come along, and I'll show you. Only one major thing has happened since you left." He told her, seeing her right arm extended to him. With a smile and without a second thought, he took it, his grip gentle but firm, and began to lead her along to the only new structure of note.

"This." He said simply, stopping across a river from a building, from what looked almost like a skyscraper of some sort. "This is the home of the newest kind of Iramasha to emerge, the Nature Iramasha. They use a strange mix of chaos energy and something called nature energy; and they've had life a bit rough, most of them. Only get along with one of them really myself, and he's a pretty elusive guy." He said simply, looking back to her. "It's a nice place they have here due to their powers, keeps everything natural. They tried building a house nearby… and it was literally consumed by a bunch of trees which sent its nutrients back to its soil. So this part of the Iramasha Island will always just be this, so it seems." He told her with a smile, before looking over to her again. "But a good question deserves one in return: what has occurred with you since your departure?" He asked her, his eyes looking at her with a mixture of determination and concern, waiting to see what her answer was.

Aki let Aso lead him over to the building. Looking around, her eyes softened in to a look of longing on her face. Listening to Aso’s explanation, a smile spread across her face.

“It’s so lovely… I wonder what the soil here is like?”

Flowers had started to sprout up beneath her feet, random different types of flowers poked through the earth, growing at an incredible speed. Letting go of Aso’s hand, she walked over to one of the plants, looking carefully at it.

“Wow… this is amazing. I’ve never seen a plant this healthy before. These Nature Iramasha must be a special bunch.”

With that she walked back over to Aso, a sad smile on her face. For a few moments, she debated whether or not to tell him, her right hand gripping around her left arm again. However, she could trust Aso to keep this to himself, couldn’t she? If she could trust anyone with the information, it was Aso.

“Alright Aso, I’ll show you the reason I’ve been gone for so long, but you’d better not tell a soul, okay? This stays between the two of us unless I choose to disclose it, now let’s go somewhere else, I don’t want to harm these beautiful plants.”

Walking back, she stopped just in front of the river, waiting for Aso to join her. The she stretched out her left hand, holding it over the river. Gathering her mind together, she focused, doing as the little symbiont had taught her. Slowly, the water would back away from the area in front of her, held in place by a wall of force. For half a minute she held it, and then she fell to her knees, the water crashing down to return to its natural position. Blood leaked for a new wound on her left arm, her breathing heavy. Shaking herself, she leaned back, laying down on the ground there as her blood trickled down, looking over at Aso.

“That’s how I got all these wounds. Telekinesis isn’t that great a gift if you can’t control it, you can easily end up cutting your arm off if you mess up. I guess you want more of an explanation though, don’t you? Like how I ended up with such a nasty power, am I right? Well… it’s a long story, are you sure you want to hear it?”

Aso watched as she made the plant grow, his eyes wide. So that was her natural Iramashan power… He thought to himself, making careful note of what she was doing. "They are… if a bit… different." He explained, looking over at her again as she grabbed onto her arm again. As she did so, his worrying brow increased, though he was patient. "Understood…" He told her in reply, but immediately thought of Toran, his small companion, his Seishin Buki - it hadn't promised anything at all. "Then…" He trailed off, watching her, and followed her over to the river, watching as she stretched out her left hand.

As she did so, Aso got an immensely foreboding feeling. Looking at it held out like that, his eyes zoomed in, the effects of his Barrier vision activating as he examined the entirety of her arm, his breath stopping for just a moment as he examined each and every fraction of an inch of it, committing the entire thing to memory, before zooming out, looking at the water. However, as he did so, he got that foreboding feeling again, and glanced back at her arm, as suddenly a round green barrier formed around it, preventing the passage of anything else as he watched it.

However, his eyes widened as his barrier shattered, falling away and revealing the new mark. Aso's eyes zoomed in on it tremendously, examining its very atomnomical structure, his breath becoming extremely small and drawn out to help maintain his focus. He saw the blood coming out, the stress on her body, before she looked over at him. "………." He was totally silent as he looked up at her eyes ,seeing the pain she must have gone through there. Without warning, as she asked him if he wanted to hear it, he threw his body forwards, grabbing onto her own and pulling her down, holding both of her arms down so that he could feel them completely, and spoke directly to her mind, his knees hitting the dirt.

Yes. I would like to know everything. This… I need to know. He thought simply, his eyes closed as a massive amount of power began to radiate around his body, before flowing into him as he opened his eyes, his pupils replaced by a pure white screen of raw power. Iramasha Sync. He thought simply, and the two of their minds were completely linked, and he waited to see what would be revealed through this new spontaneous connection…

Aki smiled, she didn't think Aso would be willing to use iramasha sync to witness things, this would make things easier. The first thing he would notice, before she could tell it to hide, was the being, Quora Tomaka. Looking like a tiny yellow spirt, part of its fourth wing was broken off. It looked directly at Aso, glaring in a way that clearly meant it didn't trust him, before Aki's voice floated up, telling it to go away, that Aso was a friend. It complied, and a sigh escaped from her. Then memories came through to Aso's mind. The day Aki met the old man, taking Quora Tomaka in to her body so that the old man could live. A short time afterwards, stumbling through the woods of rukongai, trees were being uprooted randomly as she lay there. Fresh cuts appeared on her body every few minutes as the telekinesis shot off uncontrollably. Then the little sprite, teaching Aki to control it, her progress slow despite the work she put in to it. The wound became less severe, instead of ending up barely alive after a day, she made progress. The sleepless nights spent training both telekinesis and her angelic power, the gift over plants. She showed him the four hundred years she spent just trying to learn to control the power granted by the sprite, most of it spent in pain. Then she showed her slow recovery, making her way over to iramasha island and to where he had found her.

Looking up at him, her voice came through to him, a serious voice she rarely displayed.

“Remember, not a soul. What do you think would happen if others knew about this? It isn’t time to reveal this to the rest just yet.”

She stood up, breaking the sync with him as she did. It took her some additional time to stand up, though not much. She took Aso’s hand again, walking back towards the spot where they had met. As she did, she opened her telepathic link, another gift from Quora Tomaka, and connected her to Aso. Taking a deep breath, she started talking.

“Well, I feel this connection would be a bit safer. It’s telepathy, very weak but it’ll allow us to talk for a few hours. Anyway, do you have any questions about what you saw? If you do feel free to ask them, I’ll try to answer in whatever way I can.”

...Foreign being… Aso thought to himself, as suddenly Aki opened up her memories to him, and with little to no issue he watched, first with awe, then with grief, then with a mild rage as he watched what Aki had had to go through. So for him… you went through all this ridiculous pain… Oh… Aki… He thought, his mental waves most likely reaching her as he continued to watch, his heart in his chest still saddened, very saddened, by the sight.

"I think they would accept you just fine." He told her honestly, looking right in her eyes as he looked back at her. You're not the first Iramasha to have this issue… and I know that you wouldn't be amongst a rarity, either, if you would like to tell, I believe there would be no problem in that… however, it is still your wish in the end. He informed her, listening carefully to what she said. And yes it is telepathy, but if we used the Iramashan telepathy which we are all privy to as a race it would be a strong connection and we could send images and feelings as well as just words to one another. He told her softly over the mental link. The only thing I have to say is… why did this person you saved give me such a nasty look, when all he's done is… is… harm you. He thought slowly, an expression like a small animal, despondent and without hope, coming into his eyes.. If only I could put barriers within your very soul, to protect you from this… He thought, his hands slipping down into hers as he looked at her, now standing with her.

Well, firstly, I would assume you don't have anywhere to stay at the moment. Would you like to stay with me? He asked her simply, an honest expression coming onto his face. That way I could be nearby and help you whenever you need it… with whatever it is that you need assistance in obtaining. He smiled to her, an honest smile of one who was glad to be able to help a friend.

Aki sighed, looking up at Aso. He didn’t really understand what had happened, did he? Well, she hadn’t explained too well, she would need to explain more so that Aso would understand.

“Aso, Quora Tomaka hasn’t hurt me once. In fact, he’s limited how much pain I feel at time, he’s helped me overcome my inabilities. I would have been dead within the first year had it not been for Quora Tomaka’s healing. Also, putting up a barrier around my soul wouldn’t help, Quora Tomaka isn’t like that. It’s kind of hard to explain, but Quora Tomaka is a psychic being. He exists as a mental symbiont, part of the mind, not the soul. As for why he reacted the way he did, think about it. If some random shinigami suddenly walked in to your home, what would you do? You wouldn’t be too happy, would you? It’s the same way, he doesn’t know you.”

Shaking her head, she then waited a bit before answering Aso’s next question.

“That would be great Aso, thank you so much. I won’t need a bed though, so don’t worry about that.”

She reached over, hugging Aso tightly before planting a kiss on his cheek. Blushing furiously, she terminated the telepathic connection between them so that Aso couldn’t overhear the mental argument going on between her and Quora Tomaka. After a minute, she succeeded in convincing Quora Tomaka that Aso was a fine person, and things settled down. Hopefully Aso wouldn’t mind her reaction though, she had done it spontaneously, letting her feelings dictate her actions without thinking about it. She looked down slightly, her face still slightly red as she opened her mouth.

“A-anyway, we should probably get a move on, shouldn’t we? I really need to rest my legs, I’ve been walking around for too long.”

"….It just seemed to me like if he hadn't entered you… you wouldn't have started going through that pain in the first place is all I meant, Aki.."Aso said softly, apologetically. He hadn't meant to upset her, but that was how he had viewed the situation. Even if you apologized and cleaned up the milk after spilling it, you still spilt the milk. Even worse if someone went through agonizing pain to get you that milk which you then proceeded to spill.

"Youre welc-" He was about to protest and say that certainly she would have the bed when suddenly lips were on his cheek and his mind went blank. Eh? He blinked for a moment, before he blushed as well. "...It's good to have you back, Aki." He told her simply, still in her embrace and returning it to her as she spoke. "Yeah, we should. Here, I'll carry you. I'm strong enough for that." He said simply, before suddenly she was swept off of her feet, and he held onto her, his face one of extreme concentration as he looked in front of himself.

"Barrier Vision."

He stated simply, as a barrier appeared in front of him. His foot began to move forwards, and he got three steps forwards, before they were right in front of the barrier… and suddenly, they were inside of it, and then they were through it. Gently, with all the strength he could muster, he set her down onto the bed. His bed was a large on the floor style bed, and he took a deep breath as he stood up again, glad to have finished the job as the barrier behind him shattered, turning into energy that returned to the air around it, before he smiled, looking back at her. "One good deed deserves another." He told her simply as he reached a hand to move her hair back from her scalp, before kissing it himself, before turning around.

He placed a hand on a closet door, and pulled on it, revealing a massive closet filled to the brim with clothing. Men's clothing, women's clothing, cosplays, costumes… everything a person could imagine was essentially in these closets. "Go ahead. What would you like to wear? You probably want to get out of those clothes if you've been walking for that long." He told her simply, the smile still on his face. He was plenty used to helping people change… and he didn't really realize that maybe Aki, well, wasn't...