romantic walk, anyone? [dream]

[hideaki gardner]

Hideaki wasn't quite sure how he had made it all the way here exactly. Well, he knew how, just not why he could make it all the way here without getting bored and turning home. It was almost a three hour walk from the forest front, he reckoned, and while it was pretty enjoyable, he was usually the type to stay home and read a book instead of going out on an adventure. Hell, he was sure if he hadn't gotten into a fight with his mother he would've never even thought of leaving the house that day. His tennis shoes crunched on the dried leaves that were scattered across the forest floor while he enjoyed the shade from the thick trees. Even though winter was nearing, the summer weather was still roaring and he felt like he was going to melt like ice cream under the raging sun. Underneath all of the thick plant life, the temperature had dropped to a bearable degree.

The ruins ahead were just as the townspeople had always described them. Just stone houses crumbled to the base, abandoned wooden storage places, and even a shady looking well nearby. Hideaki had thought it would be a little more amazing, but of course it was just as crumbled and boring as most said. With a sigh, he fell onto one of the stone house floors, using it as a resting place until he had to go back. It was nearly afternoon, and he wasn't entirely planning on returning to his parent's home so soon. All he did was fight, fight, fight with them day in and day out. It was normally stupid things that he just got stubborn about, like he forgot to wash the dishes until his father came home and noticed and yelled. Instead of just doing them, the childish rebellion would fire up inside of him and it would go on for there. His mother was always on his case about school, while his father about daily life. He just couldn't handle the constant stress of having to live around such strict people.

The red-eyed boy let out an exaggerated sigh before digging into his bag for the lunch he managed to shuffle together before zipping out of the house. It wasn't much; just a bottle of water and a peanut butter sandwich, but it was better than starving all day. As he unraveled the plastic clinging to the bread, he couldn't help but remember the rumors about the ruins. There was always some type of supernatural rumor in Jukyo for every place, and the old collapsed town was definitely no exception. People said there was some sort of tower hidden near the town, and while he didn't see anything suspicious right now, he was sure that something like that had to be somewhere. Maybe it was just a little out of the ruins? Hideaki's curiosity was building up at all the thoughts of the things he could discover. However, he didn't think he was going to make the venture quite yet. The whole walk to the middle of the forest had exhausted the boy. He chomped down on the sandwich as he leaned back. For a city boy, he didn't think he was doing too shabby on this personal adventure.

[KURO EBISAWA]

the sound of crashing could be heard and the sight of bushes being trampled across could be seen as a boy with shimmering blonde hair plundered through the undergrowth, running from something. his cerulean eyes were glazed in fear, indicating that he wasn't running for pure sport. no, he was being chased. by what, kuro knew very well. kuro ebisawa was a hunter, and a damn good one at that. but he wasn't always perfect. and today wasn't one of his perfect days. as he ran, his foot caught against a root that stuck up from the ground like a snake and he caught his breath in his throat, praying he didn't fall over. but as luck would have it, he did. dirt collected onto his fairly nice attire(it looked much like a uniform), and he scrambled to get up, making sure that his hand was clenched tightly around his bow as he went. for he knew that if he were to lose it, his death would be fast approaching.

as he ran he clumsily pulled an arrow from the quiver tied to his back and strung it to the bow, making sure his eyes flicked to the path in front of him every once in a while as to make sure he didn't trip and fall. he hadn't realized how close to the edge of the woods he was. as he stepped out from under the foliage and turned his back with the bow strung and pulled back, one eye shut for good aim, a horrid creature followed in his wake. it was an immense being with large bat-like wings and must have been the size of a house. and it wasn't an exaggeration. it resembled a dragon, but was much more grotesque and furry. it lunged for kuro and as the monster made this move, his mouth gaping wide, kuro let an arrow fly directly into the back of the creatures throat, a satisfied smirk on his face. he backed up as the arrow pierced through the back of the monster's throat, causing the creature to resound a hideous roar and fall to the ground lazily. the monster tried desperately to get up and fight but it's blood loss was too great. the creature laid dead at the man's feet.

he sighed and looked around, knowing full well he could have easily lost his life just then. but he was thankful. he knew the gods must have had pity on him, that day. he noted that he was now at the ruins, far off from the normal path he patrolled, but he shrugged. they couldn't get too mad at him. he had killed a pesky thing they had been trying to nail for weeks. he began to walk, his feet crunching satisfyingly over the dead leaves that littered the area. he stopped walking when he heard a sound. he crouched behind a nearby pillar, peering to the side as he watched a boy who looked like he was in his early teens lying on the ground, eating what looked to be a sandwich. he didn't look much like a demon. but why the boy was so far out, kuro was interested to know. but one thing was for certain, the boy sure looked cute, laying there like that...

kuro waltzed over to the boy nonchalantly, whistling a happy tune. he didn't want to alarm the boy, for he was certain if he popped up randomly all of the sudden it could certainly startle him. which was strange, for startling and scaring folk were some of his favourite past times. he sat next to the boy without saying anything of even looking at him, and then kuro spotted his sandwhich. he giggled to himself, and reached into the bag that was strung across his back along with his bow and quiver and pulled out a bento. he handed it to the boy. even though he was hungry, he felt like he rather wanted to give it to the boy instead. "that sandwich looks awful, you might rather want this?" he opened it for him to reveal dangos--he had made them himself. they even had the faced painted on them. kuro was a sucker for adorable things, no matter what it was. he hoped the boy didn't think him childish for fancying such items. "my name's kuro, by the way, what about you?"

[hideaki gardner]

Strange noises echoed through the small, abandoned town from the spread out forest around it. Lifting his head, the blonde haired boy could only wonder what was going on in the outside area, his russet tinted eyes flickering about in alarm. He was worried that maybe it was someone looking for him, and his back straightened as he thought of all the scolding his mother would give him if she realized he was gone. However, after thinking about it, he knew that they probably wouldn't even bother yet. After all, boys will be boys. He knew plenty of other kids who'd wander about in the town, playing until long after dark. All the legends and rumors about murderers, psychopaths, and monsters seem to not even affect them. Well, they probably just grew old enough to realize that it was all just words and lies meant to keep them from getting lost or going out at night.

All grew quiet rather quickly, and Hideaki didn't think anymore of it as he gnawed at the old sandwich. Although it wasn't particularly the best (He had made it himself.), it tasted delicious to someone who hadn't even eaten breakfast yet. The peanut butter stuck to his gums as he ate, and his face screwed into what seemed to be a scowl as he attempted to get it off. Nothing was worse than peanut butter on your gums. The feeling of it was nasty and he couldn't help but sit there for minutes just trying to lick it off. As he furiously tried to remove it from the inside of his mouth, he didn't even hear the soft crunching of grass and leaf against the ground, until a shape appeared in his vision and a soft tune reached his ears. Plopping down, he realized that it was a boy, in a rather formal outfit and smiling stupidly at nothing in particular.

Fluffy golden hair outlined his features, laying slightly in his face. Cerulean orbs formed his eyes, and a femininely shaped profile complimented them. He was at least a few inches taller than himself, although he had yet to see him clearly standing up.Even for Hideaki, who didn't usually look deeply into other men, could tell that he was certainly handsome or at least very pretty. Ah. He became aware of how long he had been staring at the strange man, and his curious eyes darted to look in front of him, at nothing in particular. A light blush flashed across his cheeks in embarrassment. He didn't want the blue-eyed boy to think he was a creeper or anything.

"That sandwich looks awful, you might rather want this?"

A box was placed in Hideaki's hands, which he later took to be a bento. He had never actually eaten from one before; his mother had always liked western goods more than traditional. As he stared at the object, not quite sure how to open it and reveal the food that was being presented to him, a hand slid over to thankfully assist him. Inside, as it was revealed, was a few sticks with dango stacked on them. While they looked absolutely appetizing, the boy couldn't help but stifle a giggle at the comical faces painted onto them. He wasn't sure if the strange boy had made them himself or gotten them from somewhere, but they were just a bit queer to see with such a manly person. Or atleast, guessed he was manly. The boy that was strapped on his back made him seem like a game hunter of some sorts; that was probably what the noises from before were.

"Oh, thanks. My name's Hideaki." He replied as Kuro gave his name. Picking up one of the goodies, he chomped down on the top piece of sweet dumpling, savoring the taste for a long moment. He had never eaten one before, and while it had an unusual taste, he couldn't help but like to eat more. As he finished of the stick and started on a new one, he completely forgotten that Kuro had just given him what was probably his whole lunch. Awkwardly, the boy sort of shuffled to hand him one of the dangos, accidently giving the one he had already bitten into without noticing. Jesus, I remember why I don't have too many friends now. As socially awkward as he was, Hideaki did manage to maintain some school buddies, although he only really chattered with them in class or at lunch during school time. He didn't think he had seen any of them at all during summer.

"So, um, what're you doing about out here? Not that I'm questioning! Just that.. it's.. a bit odd to be this far out." He managed to roll out the words as he shuffled to eat one of the strange oriental treats Kuro gave him, a hot blush flushing across his face.