Realistic or Modern Protector Of Two Worlds {RP Thread}

[GrayDiscipleOfYeet]

(The posting order will be me, then Israel , and then elderflower )

Okay, breathe...

Takumi sucked in some air and leaned back in his chair. He wasn't sure if he felt scared, excited, or...Something. Eri and him were sitting at their usual table in Ms. Takahashi's cafe. Waiting for a third party; Someone important to him, in fact. Tomiko was her name, and she had been Takumi's friend back when he lived in the village. Before everything happened and he had to move. This would be the first time he saw her since he left. This would also be the first time Eri met Tomiko; His adoptive cousin meeting his long lost friend.

Takumi continued to mess with the bracelet on his wrist. One of two he had made as a kid; The other belonging to Tomiko, as a gift. Normally, he kept it in a special, secret place, but today was special.​

 

[Israel]

It's a childhood friend... don't be nervous.

Eri seemed to squirm in his own seat, which was quite normal as he was a bundle of energy. However, this was more due to the nervousness he was feeling. Fiddling with the red stone pendant hanging around his neck, the purpose for it was to help the Yokai regulate his Yokai form. He could feel how anxious Takumi was, which didn't soothe his own nerves. He had never met this person before and he was honestly unsure of what he should be feeling. He was happy that Takumi seemed happy, but also quite nervous. She won't take him away from me? Eri hated that his thoughts made him possessive over the other young man, however he couldn't help but feel this way. He decided to focus more on Takumi rather than his own jealousy. Studying his features for a split second before accidentally blurting out, "Ah, Tanuki." The multi-colored haired boy muttered to himself. Tanuki was the neighbor's dog who was always excited and anxious around greeting people. Currently Takumi reminded Eri of the dog, which honestly took a lot of energy for the Yokai not to crack a smile at what he had said or thought. "It's going to be fine." The smaller male bumped his shoulder against Takumi's arm. A confident smile spread across his face as he looked at the other male, despite the pit in his stomach.

 

[elderflower]

“I’m heading out for a bit.” Tomiko said to her father as she breezed past him towards the door as she began slipping on her shoes. “Where are you heading too?” He father asked curiously but he didn’t look up from his newspaper. “To see an old friend.” Tomiko replied bluntly before the young woman swiftly headed out the door and started walking in the general direction of the cafe.

A small feeling of excitement was bubbling in Tomiko but it was soon soothed by her cool disposition. Tomiko had found Tamuki on social media and upon discovering that he lived in the same area as her she asked if he wanted to meet up which he agreed too. Tomiko didn’t know why she’d asked him but it just felt natural to her to do so, she wanted to see him all grown up as her last memory of him was a little boy scarred by the murder of his family. Tomiko sighed and stood at the front of the cafe, did she really want to do this? It might be awkward but something inside told her that she should go in and so she did. Tomiko wore plain clothes, black leggings, an oversized white T-shirt, converse and her signature denim jacket that was more of a second skin and finally the colourful bracelet that Tamuki had gifted her all those years ago.

She looked around before spotting two boys around her age and when she caught a glimpse of her face she felt a smile creeping across her lips as she walked over to them. “Long time no see Tamuki-kun.” She said softly as she showed her friendship bracelet as proof. Tamuki certainly had come in to his own over the years, he was no longer that broken little boy, he looked strong, happy and content with life. In some ways their roles had reversed, she was now in need of a person or persons to help piece back together what others had broken.

 

[GrayDiscipleOfYeet]

"Where?" Considering Ms. Takahashi's cafe was literally a hot spot for the local yokai, Takumi frantically looking around upon hearing that name was a habit. He was expecting to see an actual tanuki jumping up on a table again. He then realized Eri was talking about their neighbor's dog. He cast his adopted cousin an awkward smile. "Oh, that Tanuki. Yeah...," he sighed, "I haven't seen Tomiko in...In years!" And the last time he did, it was when Auntie was preparing him for the move to Tokyo. They were crying kids, sharing a promise to find each other when they grew up.

Before he could say anything else to Eri, Tomiko had finally arrived. How did Takumi know it was her? The bracelet on her wrist. The exact same as his own. "It's been forever, Tomiko-chan." And god, he missed her. Even as he adjusted to his upturned life, he deeply missed his closest friend from the village. The girl who, along with her family, attended the funeral for his own. The family who sheltered him until his aunt could come get him.

"Oh! I almost forgot: Tomiko, meet Eri. He's my cousin." Takumi wrapped a friendly arm around the taller of the two. Smiling and rubbing his head with his fist. They weren't family by blood, but they shared a similar closeness.​

 

[Israel]

Eri tried to think of more words to boost the confidence of Takumi, but it seemed too late as a young woman approached the two. His eyes carefully analyzed the girl, almost critically. She's... cute. Perhaps more than just cute. He blinked a couple of times before forcing a smile. "I was adopted by Takumi's aunt." The yokai couldn't help but clarify. Unfortunately, the pit in his stomach was growing and he dug his fingers into his palms. "Ah, how rude of me. I'll, uh, go get us some drinks. I'm sure both of you having catching up to do. Takumi, the usual?" He abruptly got up, the chair screeching across the ground. The young man didn't want the other two read his feelings if they could. "Murata-san, what can I get you?" He forced another smile, closing his eyes to appear more pleasant.

 

[elderflower]

Tomiko smiled at Tamuki, it was a genuine smile as she’d just realised how much she’d missed him because she’d been suppressing her feelings for so long. When Tamuki introduced his cousin Eri she felt the boy analysing her and when he plastered the fake smile on his face Tomiko couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. “I’ll have a latte please, Eri-san” Tomiko said warmly to him before the taller boy got up to go get their drinks. “I don’t think your cousin likes me very much.” She whispered to Tamuki with a mischievous smile, it was the same smile that she had as a kid. “But, I can’t be annoyed at him for being overprotective.” She said resting her head on her hand.

It felt like old times but it also didn’t, they were grown up now with separate lives. When Eri came back with the drinks she thanked him once again and took a sip of the warm latte. “Eri-san, how did you end up living with Tamuki and his aunt?” She asked out of genuine curiosity but her question was also to keep the attention off her and her own life. Tamuki knew that her father had left her when she was young but he was yet to know about to death of her grandmother and how her mother was placed in a mental hospital for her own safety.

 

[GrayDiscipleOfYeet]

(Actually, you guys don't have to exactly follow the order.)

 

[Israel]

Eri gave a small nod as an acknowledgment to Tomiko. He then slowly made his way to behind the counter to make the drinks. It wouldn't take him long to make the drinks, as he was one of the only workers for the cafe. He really wanted to listen in on what they were saying, but felt it would be too invasive and would probably upset Takumi. Within a few minutes, he walked back over with a tray of drinks. He placed a latte in front of the girl, Tamuki's drink in front of the young man himself, and placed his own drip coffee in front of his chair. He sat back down in his chair, almost unsure if he should. Maybe I should go back to being behind the counter. The distraction did help soothe Eri's nerves a little, hopefully he could make it without saying or doing something stupid. He reached down for his cup and took a sip of the dark liquid. "Agh!" He burnt his tongue and had almost spit out the coffee. He quickly blushed and rubbed at the back of his neck. Forget about not doing something stupid. His sensitive tongue had not liked being subjected to the hot liquid. Maybe I should've put in creamer to cool it down. Despite liking sweets, Eri oddly liked to drink his coffee black.

At hearing Tomiko saying his name, his head shot up from his cup to look at her. "Oh, um... I didn't have a really good home life," Technically no home life, but he couldn't admit to being a feral child. At least, not without garnering a lot of attention. "She really took me in when I needed it. Otherwise, I really don't know what would have happened to me." His amber eyes scanned to look outside the shop, watching a few people walk by. "I hate to say it, but I think I would be an entirely different person." He brought his attention back to the girl and scratched at one of cheeks. Bringing his hands down, he clasped his hands around his drink. He stared at the dark liquid that was still steaming. What would I be like? He pondered.

His solemn look didn't last long through, because a devious look suddenly appeared in Eri's eyes. Along with a matching, toothy grin, Eri knew what he had to ask the girl. "Anyway, I have to know. Do you have any embarrassing stories about Tamuki as a child? I'm willing to share mine in exchange, teenage puberty stories included."

 

[elderflower]

Tomiko couldn't help but let out a small chuckle as Eri burnt his tongue on his coffee but her face soon turn backed to her usual cool disposition. It was like every time a small sparkle appeared her eyes it was washed over by a wave which kept that innocent sparkle at bay. Tomiko listened to Eri and resonated with his story as she also wondered how she'd turned out if her Grandmother hadn't died and her mother hadn't gotten ill, she'd probably be a happy girl still living in the countryside maybe had a boyfriend and was looking forward to university but now everything was different. "She sounds like an amazing woman." Tomiko said taking a sip of the warm drink. Eri made an extremely good latte as it warmed her from the inside both physically and emotionally. When Eri asked about embarrassing childhood stories a flicker of mischief fluttered in her eyes as she looked at Takumi and let out a small giggle "There is one particular story that makes me laugh whenever I think of the memory." She said as she started chuckling before composing herself.

"I think we were about 7 or 8 years old and it was summer break. We decided to head down to this small river to catch frogs and Takumi wasn't very good at it, the frogs just kept running away from him so he kept chasing them until he tripped and fell straight into the small creak." Tomiko said before her laughter overwhelmed her and she looked at Takumi but she was able to compose herself before continuing. "Then, the frogs decided that it would be perfect to use to soaking wet Takumi as a resting place." Tomiko finished as she let out another laugh and she looked at Takumi "Are you still the perfect resting place for frogs?" She teased him as she lay her arm next to his and that's when she saw their matching friendship bracelets side by side. "We also made these bracelets that summer and promised to be friends forever." She said gently tracing the rough string of both his and her own friendship bracelet. "But life has a way of taking away the best things in your life." She said softly but sadly as she took another sip of the latte and adverted her eyes from both of them.

 

[GrayDiscipleOfYeet]

Eri didn't hate her, as far as Takumi knew. Eri just took some time to warm up to new people. He used to be pretty shy, like a stray cat brought into a house, when Auntie and him took him in. Takumi assured Tomiko as much. "Trust me, you guys'll be friends in no time!" That was the hope, at least.

Eri soon came back with their drinks. Takumi thanked him while taking the cup of melon soda, the usual order for him. The trio had a good time drinking and talking about the little things. And then Eri asked Tomiko for embarrassing stories, which caused Takumi to choke a bit on his drink. He frantically gestured to Tomiko with waving hands and a shaking head. And yet, she didn't stop. She continued, sharing her story about the time he fell in a river and ended up with frogs using him as a bench. But...It was a funny story. "You could say that." if you replaced 'frogs' with 'kappa,' then yes.

"Holding onto this little thing has kept me tied to my old life. That way, I never forget my roots." Takumi also put his hand on his bracelet. Putting himself dangerously close to Tomiko's. He blushed and pulled away when he noticed this.​

 

[elderflower]

Tomiko listened to Takumi and it pulled on her heart strings. After all this time Tomiko thought that Takumi would forget about his hometown, she thought he would want to bury all those horrible memories deep within himself just like she'd done. Tomiko smiled warmly at him as she pulled away her own hand from his. Just as Tomiko was about to speak she was cut off by her own phone ringing and her face of happiness immediately vanished when she saw that it was a text from her step-mother. 'Buy me these things from the store and come home immediately.' It read and Tomiko let out a sigh. Her and her step-mothers relationship had never been good, she treated her step-daughter more like the help than family but if Tomiko defied her orders her father and half-brother would get angry with her. "I'm sorry. I have to go." Tomiko said coldly looking up from her phone and looking between the two boys "I hope to see both of you around. Maybe we'll even end up at the same school together." Tomiko said as she drank the last few drops of her latte before putting her headphones, getting up and left.

Once outside the cafe Tomiko blended into the crowd of people and started the walk to the closet shop but as she walked Tomiko didn't realise that something began to stalk her. Being in close contact to Takumi had caused their scents to mix and so the yokai thought she was a Shepard. This particular yokai had been causing a ruckus by preying on young women who went out walking alone and unknown to her Tomiko had just become its next target. Tomiko walked into the isolated store and collected the items her bitch of a step mother had requested and also picking up a snack for herself she bought the items and left carrying a small white bag. Tomiko was about halfway home when she felt as if someone was following her, she turned her head every so often to check behind her but she saw nothing but when she turned her head back around in front of her stood something monstrous and she stopped dead in her tracks. "Hello Young Shepard." The yokai taunted as Tomiko froze in fear and that's when it struck grabbing the 18 year old by the neck and raising her from the ground causing Tomiko to choke "Not going to put up a fight eh?" The yokai taunted as Tomiko scratched at the demons hands around her neck, trying in anyway to set herself free.

 

[Israel]

Eri chuckled at her story, it definitely sounded cute to the yokai. "Heh, remind me later to tell you mine. I have loads of them." He gave the other male a quick wink and smirk. He kept quiet as they talked, not wanting to bother the two as they reminisced. However, it seems as though the young woman had a change of plans. Obviously something on her phone had upset Tomiko. Her face had been light and happy, but after she seemed almost weary and stressed. She finished her latte and quickly left in a hurry. "She, uh, seemed nice. I guess an emergency came up." He turned to look at Takumi. While he definitely found her pleasant, he still couldn't help but feel jealousy.

Something suddenly jumped out to the yokai. The young man's body suddenly froze up and he knew that an unfamiliar yokai was in the area. Eri couldn't help but make a very unhuman growl. Unlike humans that growled from their throats, his had radiated up his chest. "Takumi, there's a yokai I am not familiar with close by." He turned to look at the other male. His eyes had already turned a bright red and his already pointy canines grew more into fangs. While Eri was hardly ever aggressive, he was still very territorial and could be violent if he felt threatened. His instincts told him to run out and chase down the other yokai, but he knew it was better to coordinate with the young Shepard. His gaze focused on the man, wanting to know what they should do.