Day on the Town {open}

[kuwabara shizuru]

I need a cigarette… Sometimes Shizuru really hated having to go to the store. The truth was she hated having to go most of the time, but necessity always had her going even when she didn’t want to. There were just some days that seemed worse than others. Today was one such day. It was the monthly sale day when everything was discounted so the grocery was packed full of people who were bustling this way and that in clumps. She really should have picked a better day to visit when the store wouldn’t be so crowded, but she had little choice. Her refrigerator was completely empty save for a plastic tub of something she was hesitant to take the lid off of. Her cabinets were just as barren, holding only half a box of stale crackers and a mysterious odor that, like the tub, she was hesitant about investigating. In the end it was safer to just ignore it and hope it went away.

Although she tried to keep to the sidelines Shizuru still found herself being elbowed out of the way by people in too much of a hurry to wait their turn. After being jabbed a total of ten times by various body parts she decided to call it quits. Her wallet held that week’s pay so she could afford to go out and eat for a change. That is, if she could find her way back out of the store. She had managed to make it to the very back, but now as she surveyed the crowd, returning to the front seemed next to impossible. Even though she was taller than most of the women in the grocery that didn’t change much of anything. Sighing tiredly she ran a hand through her long brown hair.

I need to smoke, she thought to herself again as she began the painstaking process of working her way through the crowd. Jamming a hand into the left pocket of her slacks she fingered her pack of cigarettes and the lighter she kept there. She knew she couldn’t actually smoke in the store, but just touching them somehow made her feel better. She didn’t even want to think about the possibility that it was the lighter that actually got her to relax because that was just too depressing a thought. Twenty minutes later she was safely on the street and moving away from the entrance to the store. Sighing again she turned to head down the street, unfortunately bumping into someone in the process. Wincing slightly she took a step back. ”Oh, excuse me. You alright?”

[NightFall]

How many years has it been since NightFall was in the human world. Many actually, if Night would of taken her time and counted the years, it would be around twenty. The cities around her was unfamiliar and the people were too. The humans now-a-days were more rude and selfish. She could tell by how they walked ignoring everyone who was around them, or not disciplining their children when the acted up. A child ran past her trying to push her out of the young child's way, but Night didn't budge. The child wined as she ran into Night's leg and she growled down at the girl.

"Get away from me child" Night said as her green eyes shot at the girl. The child stuck her tongue at Night and took off running to her mother. The mother came marching up towards Night and stuck her finger on her shoulder.

"How dare you do that to her! Do you have any respect?"

Night's eyes twitched as her lips came to a snarl. How dare that woman speak to her like that! Night glared at the woman, but she didn't even seem to budge and that made Night's anger rise even more. She pinched the bride of her nose and sighed. Night walked off slowly away from the angry mother and walked towards the corner.

Night quickly ran towards the end of corner to find herself running into another person. Today was not making Night happy. Everything was going wrong, she stumbled back as she and caught herself on the wall. She glared over at the human but as the human spoke to her her eyes cleared.

”Oh, excuse me. You alright?” She said.

Night brushed herself off as she looked over the human. The smell of smoke feumed off of her, but so did a sweet, clean, smell. She pinched her nose again as the smell reached her, she did not enjoy the smoky smell. Night nodded.

"Yeah I am fine, How about you?" Night asked as her cold voice echoed threw the air. There was something different about this human..

[kuwabara shizuru]

"Fine," Shizuru murmured, staring at the strange woman intently. There were strange pricks of energy in the air around the purple haired woman that just didn’t seem normal, even given the possibility of static electricity. Although she admitted that on occasion she was oblivious to her surroundings, static electricity seemed a bit too farfetched, given the nature of the energy she felt. It felt just a bit too familiar – and yet still so unrecognizable – for her to be that foolish. Tensing she folded her arms across her chest, wondering if maybe it would have been a better idea to just stay inside the grocery for a greater length of time than she had.

It was her spirit awareness, or whatever the hell it was called. Though she thought that was a stupid name it was what Kazuma and the others called this particularly ability, so she might as well call it the same thing. ”You’re not human, are you?” she asked the purple-haired woman bluntly, knowing there was no point in pretending that she hadn’t noticed anything. She figured her body language had already given her away as it was. Kami, why was this happening now? She had been pleasantly youkai free for a few months now. She had really been enjoying the leisure of not having to worry about being killed at any given moment. Obviously she had hoped for the best a little too soon. ”Demon?” she guessed aloud, her voice neutral.

[NightFall]

Night looked at the human again once she spoke. She like that this human had spunk and the power to know demon power. She smiled a soft smile as her eye twitched. She wasn't one of those blood thirsty demons that have couldn't control their powers. She was a half human half demon that knew her intent and power. She looked at the girl again as she growled her response.

"I am a half-demon. I kill those demons you are speaking of. Why do you think I am here anyways? This is interesting, you can sense me. Happy day. You can help me." Night's smile was worse then what most would like. She looked around her surroundings and nothing has changed. women, men, and even children where wondering around, but Night knew there was something more.

"Are you interested?"

[kuwabara shizuru]

Half human, huh? Well, that explained why she was having trouble getting a good fix on this person’s energy. Normally she could at least tell if a person or demon was strong, weak, or somewhere in between based off of the amount of energy she felt and the vibes she got with it. But this… the human part of her must be effecting it somehow because Shizuru had absolutely no idea how powerful this one was. Her brother’s voice in her head reminded her that she had once overheard him and Yusuke talking with that overpowered toddler that only a weak demon could easily pass through the barrier between the human world and the demon one.

Must be a weak one, she thought lazily. Unless of course this one had traveled to the human world years before. Or maybe it had even been born here; it did say it was half human. Then again maybe she just didn’t know about anything demon related to make a fair assessment. After all, Kurama and Hiei passed between the worlds all the time from what she knew, and she knew for a fact that they were anything but weak. All of this overthinking was just giving her a headache, so it would be best to just move on, she decided. My head hurts…

The truth was that she really didn’t want to get involved with any more demons if she could help it. Especially when it was entirely avoidable. Gripping her arms tighter she tilted her head a fraction of an inch to one side, which for her signaled curiosity. I’m going to regret this, but… hell, why not? I don’t have anything better to do today anyway. “Maybe. Depends on what kind of help you need,” she said at length, mentally grimacing at her own folly for encouraging the half-demon woman.