"I won't let them have you," he stated firmly. There was a lot of confusion about what was going on, and in the end he had no idea what these people's goals really were, but he knew they weren't the type that could be allowed to have Kageko. He'd met five of them now, and only two were remotely reasonable; the other three would no doubt treat Kageko as nothing more than a weapon, or worse.

It went without saying that he had no intentions of handing her over.

"But...what could he have to do with them?" Other than the fact that they possessed strong spiritual presences, he couldn't see how they were connected. They didn't even recognize him using Qi, nor did they seem to have any idea he was a Reaper--or at least one's powers.

I do not know, Master . . .

It was the closest thing to a sigh that Kageko had ever breathed. She wasn't providing Eld much useful information beyond her own concerns-- which might as well just add more worry to the man. Just another burden for him to carry.

In hindsight, it wasn't very fair-- but it was something that had been weighing heavily upon her mind ever since Eld and Etsu ran into these people, and they spoke of what they sought. She'd been worried ever since then, and scared of what would happen if they got a hold of her. Whether or not she had any ideas about what would happen was unclear; if she did, she apparently wasn't venting those.

I am sorry to burden you with my fears, Master. You wish to rest, do you not?

With an amendment that she didn't say aloud-- and I am only making it difficult to rest, aren't I? Saying such would probably have made things a little worse.

It didn't bother him much that Kageko didn't have many answers; he didn't expect her to. He knew her memories from before the fateful night were vague, so even if she encountered something familiar, she might not be able to recall it precisely.

"Well, technically I am resting, aren't I?" Eld replied wryly. No matter what he did in Kageko's world, his body was still asleep in his; he'd found that even when he was...active, here, he'd still wake up feeling refreshed.

"But you do need to rest. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow...you'll need to keep your strength up. You'll, uh, need to help me find the bed though." Normally he was already on it when he found himself here, but this time it was nowhere in sight.

Not that his sight counted for much here.

Oh. I apologize, Master.

Naturally, when Eld was saying anything that could suggest a direct request or want, Kageko subordinated her own thoughts and feelings and catered to Eld immediately. She really wasn't concerned with there being a mattress here or not; she really didn't need one or anything. That was all for Eld-- but again, it existed for the sake familiarity, something for Eld to have here so that he wasn't completely shocked when he shut his eyes to sleep and woke up in the darkness. At least then, he was still laying upon something familiar.

Kageko gently pulled away from Eld, but not permanently. She reached back to take his hand, and progressed forward several paces before stopping.

I knew I had forgotten something.

Eld would find it before. Of course, he wouldn't be able to see it, but Kageko would guide his hand down until he'd be touching the mattress. And again, that was all there was to this place. Nothing more than the bed, Kageko, and Eld within the dark world.

"It's fine," he replied. It was kind of an odd thing, that sometimes his entire stay here consisted of saying a few words to her before basically falling sleep as he'd just done. He wondered if he somehow got twice the rest for falling asleep twice a night.

He let her lead him a few feet to the bed, and he had to wonder if it had always been there or if she'd created it just now. Her response had suggested the latter, which was still a concept he was getting used to.

Yawning slightly, he climbed into bed--it was a mental thing, as technically this wasn't really his body, so it needed no rest--and waited for her to join him.

Kageko stood in wait. It was odd, sometimes. She always thought she would have understood everything about Eld without even the slightest hint of a failed assumption, but she didn't. Not at all. There were still so many things about him that she couldn't even begin to know, let alone understand. For example, she didn't know until today that he was unable to see in the dark. She always thought his eyes would have adjusted-- but maybe, just maybe, he wasn't meant to be in the dark like she was. It wasn't his home like it was hers.

Eld was a creature of twilight, more than anything else. That was perhaps the best way to describe humanity. They were between it all. They weren't shades, nor were they lumen. They were in-between, but capable of being tainted towards either or.

Once Eld was laying down, Kageko silently moved to slide into the bed as well. Eld was missing something-- or someone, rather. Someone he missed dearly already, and worried about very much. It was difficult for him to sleep without her there, even. So, Kageko did what she had before, when this happened. She laid down upon Eld and rested her head upon his chest, much like a certain someone. She was no replacement; she would never have sufficed, but at the very least, she could make the absence hurt just a little less.

While it was true that Eld, being human, was neither innately associated with light or dark, it was fairly clear that he was closer to the latter--or it would be to Kageko, at least, who by virtue of being able to sense his thoughts and feelings at times saw more of the darkness he tried to keep hidden than anyone else.

Her presence with him was undeniably comforting to him, though she perhaps underestimated herself in that regard. While Eld would have been the first to admit his feelings for her were about as clear as mud, he most certainly did not see her as a replacement for Etsu. Her presence was comforting by virtue of what she meant to him, whatever that might be.

Which would be proven as, despite the worries on his mind, he'd fall asleep once more fairly quickly with her on top of him, his arms lightly wrapped around her...

By the time Eld awoke, it was early afternoon-- not quite noon just yet, perhaps, but morning was coming to an end. So many times before, this had happened. This time, he might have been a little disappointed, but it didn't really matter. He had a great deal of time ahead of him. Eight hours of sleep was all he was going to need tonight, anyways. It was just enough to provide an adequate rest for what was bound to come. It was just a matter of time, now.

Eld had the rest of the day, though. Tomorrow morning, he would have to meet Gestahl again. Clearly, he was not going to be giving Kageko up to trade for Etsu, even if there was a possibility of that ending the ordeal peacefully. No-- especially not after the conversation they had the night prior.

Good morning, Master. I will assist in your practice however you need me to.

Usually, Kageko was asleep when Eld was awake, for the most part-- but she went to sleep shortly after their conversation last night, and was prepared to assist him as best she could today and tomorrow . . .

But before he might get up and get dressed . . . he'd likely smell something. Something pleasant. Which might have been a little odd for this time in the day . . .

Ugh...it's early, but I guess that's for the best. For once, he refrained from immediately rolling over and going back to sleep, as was his usual reaction when waking up before noon. However, he had much to do today; he had gotten a full night's rest, and he couldn't afford to allot any more time for it.

Thanks, Kageko. It shouldn't anything too strenuous, but there are some issues to work out. Namely, how he was going to use both her and his kusari-gama at once. He'd considered that it might have been better to leave her behind, but if he was defeated by Gestahl there would be no one to oppose him taking the scythe anyway--and at worst he might hurt more of Eld's friends to do so.

Not that Eld intended to lose. He had enough to go on to beat him, he was sure; he just needed time to practice the tactics he needed to use.

However, even before he could get dressed (not that he really needed to, since he fell asleep fully clothed), he noticed something odd--but for once, not something bad. There was a delicious smell coming from elsewhere in the house.

While his parents did eat all their meals, because of how busy they were they tended to eat short meals, nothing that required actually cooking. Eld himself was probably the best cook in the house, as it was one of his duties in assisting his parents to prepare the meals.

Wondering what prompted the change--perhaps it was a slow day--he wandered out into the living room and from there to the kitchen.

As Eld approached the kitchen, he'd hear something. It was off-- strange, for this kitchen. When someone cooked here, they usually weren't humming a playful little tune. Nor did they sound so . . . young.

And indeed, there was someone in the Tsukimono's kitchen who generally was not in that room on any regular basis. At least, not the kitchen at Eld's house. At her house, however, it was quite often that she helped out with cooking . . .

And, she'd learned from one of the best cooks in all of Hillcrest: her mother.

Mayako stood facing the oven, a pair of tan shorts and a blue short-sleeved shirt that was a little tight on her (but considering how developed the girl was, or lack thereof, that meant very little), with a white apron covering the front of her body. She was humming a soft little tune, pleasant really, as she was generally happy whenever she was cooking. She stopped, however, when there was someone else in the kitchen-- and when she turned to look . . .

"Ah!" Mayako jumped a little, but only slightly surprised. She just happened to be a very jumpy person, that's all. Mayako recovered quickly, put her hands behind her back, and brightly declared, "G-good morning, Eld!"

"Umm...good morning, Mayako," he responded automatically. Well, Mayako's presence explained a lot, such as why he could smell food and more particularly why it smelled really good. And also the humming. Eld was fairly certain his mother did not sound like that.

Unless some kind of shock kicked his mind into gear, it was always a bit slow in the morning. As there was no such shock this time (or at least, the only surprise was rather mild by the standards of his life recently), he asked rather blandly, "Err...what are you doing here?"

Unlike Sarah, who tended to show up whenever she felt like it (whether he was awake or not), Mayako usually didn't drop by without a reason for it. She also kept hours that, if not quite as late as his, were at least closer than the Vaerbond's "get up at the crack of dawn" hours.

What was she doing here?

"Umm . . ." Mayako thought for a second, before looking over to her left at the stove. Immediately thereafter, she looked back to Eld with a smile, as she replied rather merrily, "I'm cooking breakfast."

It was a little clear! What she was cooking was unknown. There were a ton of different smells, and a lot of the time that meant specific foods might be harder to pick out. But there was sausage. How it was being prepared, Eld wouldn't be able to tell. There were three skillets on the stove, and they were all covered up in a pan. Two were simmering and one was still cooking.

While Eld was a decent cook, he was nowhere near Mayako's ability; in particular, he'd never mastered the ability to juggle multiple tasks at once in the kitchen, restricting him mostly to fairly simple meals still.

"Well, I can see that," he responded, realizing belatedly his question needed a bit of rewording. "I meant, why are you cooking breakfast at my house?" This was something he probably could have guessed himself had his head been a bit clearer, but alas...

"O-oh," Mayako trailed off.

A scent caught her. It wasn't a good scent. Eld wouldn't notice, likely. That wasn't a skill you gained 'til you'd been cooking for numerous years piled on top of even more numerous years. The skill in question, of course, entailed sniffing out a burn just as it was starting to happen, and getting to it as quickly as humanly possible!

Mayako held up one finger to Eld to suggest that he wait juuuuust a moment, before she turned back to the oven and lifted the cover from the back skillet. Eld would be able to see what she was cooking there-- potatoes. Red potatoes, specifically, diced up into small pieces, and apparently cooked with flakes of bacon, onion-- and all cooked in butter. Mayako stirred them around until she was satisfied that they weren't going to risk burning again, covered them again, and set the wooden spoon back down.

Again, Mayako replied to Eld with much enthusiasm-- genuine enthusiasm, too. It wasn't just for his sake. She was happy to be doing this for him. "W-well-- a hero has to eat a great breakfast sometimes, you know?"

Eld watched curiously as Mayako checked the potatoes--very, very delicious looking potatoes, at that. He didn't notice that they'd been about to start burning, though, one of the many ways he lagged far behind his friend in the culinary arts. Mayako's interests tended to lay in religion and philosophy, but he wondered if she knew just how easily she could make her living as a chef.

At her comment, he couldn't help but blush and rub the back of his head. He was a bit less easily embarrassed than he used to be, but certain things were still guaranteed to make him turn red. "I-I'm no hero," he protested. "But...thanks anyway. How long until it's ready?"