on the prowl (wob)

[izo brown]

flashing red and roseate lights easily drew the attention of anyone who strolled on the side of the street. however, commonly, they turned away as soon as they realized just what kind of place they were looking at. they didn't want to be caught with their eyes fixed on such a place; a place where adultery runs rampant and beautiful strangers plied the world's most ancient trade. the establishment had popped up about thirty years ago. and one could tell by its dated visage. it was a brick building, sandwiched in between two others that looked just the same. the only real difference in appeareance was the yellowing sign, that had once been a crisp white, jutting out into sight. that sign donned neon, flickering lightbulbs set in heartshapes that threatened to burn out at any moment. ladies hung on the enterance's banisters, pretending to loiter while they were obviously advertising. every so often, a man would stop by. they weren't very subtle about what sins they were committing - they exchanged money in plain sight. and the lives of those unattentive went on, never giving a second glance or thought to what might be going on behind paperthin doors.

izo thought the difference here was jarring. but it wasn't as if he disliked it. he had been in the city of jukyo for countless years and saw its horrors, and yet he always seemed to gravitate toward the center of the city - the supposed shady area. it was possible that it was only because he could get away with things without difficulty. screams, piercing through the night, were not uncommon. crime plagued the streets. people had learned to simply turn the other cheek and pretend not to notice. which, in reality, gave creatures like him quite the upper hand. he could hunt freely and not have to worry even the slightest bit.

the man, who at least looked young, hung around the hotel often. actually, he'd been frequenting for over ten years. it quite surprised him that none of the long time workers had said anything yet. most of them just stared at him with cold, prying eyes. some tried to be kind to him. he never said a word and carried on his way. his usual procedure was to find a girl, or whoever was willing, really, and take them to one of the far off rooms on the top floor. what exactly he did with them was a whole other story, but the room was always left dirty and empty in the morning. he didn't care much for humans and made quick work with them. though, he did occasionally toy with them, like a cat trapping and pawing at a mouse for no good reason. sometimes, the things he did were even a mystery to himself.

as he approached the dumpy little hotel, he let out a yawn. he would rather be sleeping right now. but it had been awhile, he supposed, and he was in the need of a little loosening up. he caught the sight of a few ladies standing near the front. some looked at him for his face. others looked at him suspiciously, deciding that he looked like he didn't quite belong there. he gave a flash of his devious smile to prove them wrong.

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[CHO EBISAWA]

cho hated it when her siblings would not tell her when they left. no, she was not their mother. however, it sent her into a psychotic paranoia when they decided to just waltz out of the house without telling anyone. her bedroom happened to be right by the front door, so that no one could possibly leave without her being aware of it. then it was decided that sneaking out the windows would be much more fun and it would freak her out. perfect combo for an enjoyable night indeed and of course her parents wouldn't even care. her father was out working all the time and her mother was an empty shell now days.

five years ago they were the elegant, perfect ebisawa family. the family was known for their fantastic demon hunting skills that passed down the generations. it was rumored that the tradition had been there ever since the island community was created; that the ebisawas were part of the founding families. it was easy to point them out from the crowds. every single one of them had bright tawny hair and stunning blue eyes. they all hung out together and almost felt like celebrities as normal civilians would point and tourists would gawk. it was almost as if they had the perfect, adventure filled lives.

she had just turned fifteen a week ago. she could remember wearing a beautiful, blue summer dress that she had got for her birthday. the brother closest to her age, sho, had picked it out for her. they were pretty close due to age but never were as close as her mom and him were. their mom was wanting a daughter so bad that she disregarded the naming flow that went with the family, and named her eighth son "sho". little to her knowing, cho would be born two years later. however, her brother was always the favorite and was spoiled like a mother would treat her only daughter. surprisingly this never really bothered the young, happy eldest girl. she just loved being with her family and having all her siblings play with her. since her mother was so busy with sho and all the elder brothers, cho got to spoil her younger siblings and play mom to them. she could remember dressing up her youngest sister mio, age five then, with a flower-patterned yellow dress and a little sun hat. afterwords she attempted to get the twins, age eleven, in matching outfits but they refused to wear anything she picked out. cho didn't even bother asking kuro, age thirteen at the time, to try anything on for her since he wasn't going. he was out training with their father and most likely a few brothers. the rest of the kids were all getting ready for a late summer walk with their mother. all of cho's older siblings were out and about with missions or training. she could remember the twins playing ahead of her and her mother and mio happily tagged behind them despite the fact that she was being completely ignored. cho's mother was chatting away to her about how brave and courageous sho was. how handsome he was and how much kuro was growing to look like him. they were all having such a lovely time and that it was dark by the time they got home. which must be the nice thing about being a family of hunters; no one attacks you in the dark when there is five of you.

that was the last time she saw her mother smile. it was the last time that cho wasn't paranoid and freaked out and the twins weren't trying to ruin the family name. for when they got home, their house was surrounded with people. obnoxiously loud reporters, curious tourists and concerned civilians that all went completely silent when they arrived. they all had exactly the same look on their face, as if they couldn't bare to watch what was going to happen. yet all their beady eyes were glued on the small portion of her family as they pushed through the crowd of strangers. cho was the one to open the door since her mother was holding the twins' hands and mio was clinging to her back. you could tell someone had died because of the thickness in the air. her father was holding one of her various older brothers and both were crying. she started ticking the faces off mentally. her mother beat her to it though. the shock and pain on her face would haunt cho for the rest of her life. the blood-lusted screams filled the house as she realized that her beloved sho was gone. someone had saw him being dragged into the ocean and quickly went to tell the hunters. by the time they got back it was too late.

life had completely changed after that. hiro, one of the twins, started drinking and swearing in public. his other half, yo, was trying her hardest to control him and often asked her for help finding him. cho had become obsessed with trying to fix her family and control where they went and with who. her mother went into a deep depression and rarely ever left the house. kuro was looking more like sho everyday and was barely home because of it. it was hard for their mom to look at him without bursting into tears. the perfect, elegant family was shattered from the outside in. more demons were getting gutsy and deciding that ebisawa was no threat to them. making cho's job that much harder as she looked for her younger brother.

it won't be that outrageous to believe he was downtown. despite the fact that place was crawling with demons, bars and love hotels. she was ready to embarrass the hell out of that boy by dragging him out of the trashy motel that flashed nude advertisements. she had a hint that was where he was with some slutty girl in his class; plus a few fruity cocktails. her round face flared red as she stomped down the street. girls were advertising outside and a few guys were standing around. potential losers who couldn't even bare to find themselves a decent human being. she was almost to the doors when someone caught her aqua colored orbs. he did not look like any of the older, wrinkly men. he was young and attractive and had a killer smile. enough of a smile to make cho stop in her tracks and look at him. all the other girls were glaring icy stares at him as if he was the devil himself. she was frozen in her tracks until she realized that she was suppose to be looking for her brother. with one last glance back, cho ebisawa walked into the hotel entrance.

[izo brown]

izo was just about to open his mouth to solicit one of the painted ladies out front. it didn't much matter to him what she looked like. no, not tonight. he was normally one to pick and choose, in the mindset that if he had to associate with a human that they might as well be a relatively attractive one. but this evening, as he looked at them, he felt nothing but displeasure a slight eagerness. not to take them back to his room, of course, but to rid the world's surface of yet another destructive vermin. every little bit helps, the devious man thought bitterly. he craned his neck and feigned interest in the little clique of women outside the front steps. his eternal smile was filled with collective malice, but not a single person seemed to notice. of course they wouldn't. they young man almost wished that they would and stay away from him, just once, so as to renew his faith in them. never happened.

if they had, he thought that he would absolutely spare them. in a place where people were willing to do any sort of degrading act for money, to know when to decline was a skill. those who were allured by his charms (of which he was no master) were not so lucky, unless he took a particular liking to them. it was an odd feeling, being able to control a stranger's fate. sometimes he resented it. other times he basked in the glory that it held, like a cat sunning itself regally in the sunlight.

he shuffled in the direction of the building's shabby entrance, averting the eyes of those near it. he kept his pale hands stuffed in the pockets of his jacket. it was at that moment that he noticed a girl walking up the steps nimbly. she seemed a bit upset; her face was red. she was staring at him with bright blue eyes, the way only a girl could. his grin grew wider. he blinked as she disappeared into the hotel."excuse me!" he followed and called after her. "what are you doing at a place like this alone?" he asked softly, yet purposely in a sultry tone. his voice was also dripping with fake concern. izo let his dark eyes stay fixed on her, unblinking. there was something about her that made the demon strive to catch her, though he wasn't sure what he'd do if he managed to succeed.

ooc: shortlol

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[sho ebisawa]

Droplets of water splattered against the ground with every step he took. The silky fabric that clung to his body held an icy touch to his skin, and as the boy continued down the street, he knew people were looking. Seeing a young person wearing such an old styled outfit was weird to begin with; a young person soaked to the bone in said clothes at the witching hour was another. However, the blonde didn't mind that much. After all, after so long, he was finally alongside humans once more, even for a limited time. Excitement filled his heart as he gazed at all the passerbyers, although their stares held less than affection. After what seemed to be years, just sitting by himself on the ocean floor, he was finally able to gain the bravery to leave and explore the town once more.

His bare feet scraped against the ground, a large smile spread across his face as he flickered his cerulean blue eyes to all the different things. Buildings were set up just off the walk way, some houses, other shops settled with closed signs. However, some remained open with neon lights and glistening signs. While Sho himself wasn't quite sure what stores would be doing opened so late, he decided not to question it. Even when he was human, he was never positive of what people could even do with their time wandering the streets so late. Although he never got much of a chance of going out, as he was usually helping his mother with things around the house and keeping himself busy on most days. And even if he did get earn time away from home, it was usually spent with his father, training to become an official hunter.

The memories of so-called better days were always close to Sho. No matter how often his siblings teased him or his father pressed him to succeed, he missed his family. The Ebisawas had always been a distinguished group, proud hunters and citizens of Jukyo. For centuries, their family had protected the small island that attracted so many demons. Demons who would shed blood wherever they went, murdering innocent people and causing trouble. They detested the 'vile things', as his mother would always say. The blonde, too, had felt that way about the monsters at one point. However, after he was reborn into one, he began to understand them. They weren't particularly evil or good. Like humans, they could be either way in different qualities. While there were definitely baddies out there, he knew there were good demons as well who just wanted to make it through their long days.

As the thoughts of his family flooded into his mind, he couldn't help but let out a light laugh. The Ebisawas were always so strange. The twins, as he recalled, were always so protective yet aggressive to each other. They despised to see the other hanging around with anyone else, but they also wanted to have different friends. It was a troublesome relationship, but Mother always knew how to solve their problems. The child a couple years older than them would be Kuro, who as everyone said had such a striking resemblance to Sho. He was always so serious in his job, and whenever he could he would be out training with that bow of his. And then there was of course Cho. Cho was the eldest girl and two years younger than him, but at times he had felt like he was the younger sibling. She was always so responsible, watching the small children when Mother was too busy to watch them herself.

The thump of his heel echoed on the ground as his pace quickened, attempting to shake the memories off of himself. For a moment, he felt like he could just race away to continue on with life without remembering such things. However, a spare second later, he remembered that he hadn't been walking for that long. His clumsy legs crashed underneath him and gravity took effect, slamming himself into the ground. A hiss escaped the blonde's lips as pain burst into his face, seemingly having headed face first into the concrete. He could feel the burns of the scrapes most likely on them, but he only scowled and struggled up. In the past, he probably would've cried, even as an adult, but with age and death, he seemed to get tougher, even if just by a little bit. However, not that much time had passed. Tears pricked the edges of his eyes as he steadied himself and straightened out his pale blue yukata, damp from the sea water still, but managed to keep them from fully escaping.

As he flickered his eyes upward to get rid of the salty tears without bring too much notice himself, something out of the corner of his eye attracted his attention. Golden blonde locks. On a closer look, he could see the twisted ponytails that curled like the spiral shells he had always seen on the beach. Blue eyes, colored like the deep azure sky, were settled upon the petite face of the girl he recognized so well. For well over just a few seconds, Sho could only gape at the figure, his eyes widening in shock. Never had he thought that she would be here. And she looked so much older! The small fifteen year old girl that he would always see playing was now a young woman. She looked of age, yet she still had the same childish looks to her, which caused such an easy recognition. He wanted to reach out to her, to call out her name, to attract her attention, and to convince her everything was okay. He wasn't dead. He was alive and breathing and he had always been here, so there was no need to forget him. All these feelings and thoughts rushed into his mind as his thin fingers twitched, as if they were going to stretch and touch her again right now. And he almost did. As he took a step, his blue clothing clinging to his chest, and his clumsy feet forcing themselves to move, the shape of a man approaching her forced him to rethink and come back to reality. He could never go back to his family again; what was he thinking?

He wasn't just someone who had died and come back; he had died and come back as a demon, which the family he loved so much hated. I have to go back home. He thought, his body trembling. Sho began to leave, attempting to leave the lighting of the area and back towards the darkness of the town, but for a moment, his gaze returned to the strange man. A sort of smile was on his features, a sinister sort of smirk. Sho didn't like it one bit. Even if this was just a small feature, he felt like he didn't want to leave his baby sister with such a man for long. Having obviously seen one too many ninja films, the blue-eyed boy attempted to blend in, hiding behind a billboard by crouching and watching the two with a glare. If he wasn't odd before, he certainly looked ridiculous now. But he was fine with that. He probably wasn't coming back anytime soon.

ooc: oh shit. this is what happens when I want to be lazy, apparently.