Deep thoughts ( Open)

[Yuki]

Toshiro had been sitting at his desk doing paper work for hours, now the young lad just sat there with a blank stare as he was lost in his thoughts. Mostly thinking about his parents and the city and wondering what he could do to stop the dragon slayer threat... He knew of the hero groups of the city but would they even bother teaming up with a weakling like him? The day they attacked the school was still fresh in his mind and he hated himself for freezing in fear like he did when he could have helped.. Soon the door open and it brought him out of this thoughts. It was his secretary Mrs. Harris. "Mr. Reizo Its almost time for lunch what would you like me to order for you?" She asked holding a pen and a note book. Toshiro looked up at her, Mrs. Harris had also been his Father's secretary, she had been very helpful and kind after he had taken the job as Mayor as well as the other staff as well. So he was very grateful to them.

Though the young Mayor was getting tired of the walls of his office and it felt like he has been drowning in paper work.. Toshiro sighed and stood up from his char and stretched a bit. "I would like to go out for a bit and get some fresh air.. I will just pick something up. Thank you Mrs. Harris" Toshiro said with a smile. Mrs. Harris nodded she was not going to object she could tell the boy needed a break from the stack of paper work. " Yes sir" She said and left the room. Toshiro sighed again as he then grabbed his sword that he had propped on the wall and attached it to his belt. He then left the office then the building. He then put his hands in his pockets and started to walk down the side walk.


It was nice for a change to get out.. He felt that he needed to get out more.. Perhaps he would try to make that more of a thing, after around 30 minutes he found a fast food restaurant and ordered a hamburger and fries. He then thanked the staff and left. After walking around a bit more Toshiro came to the park, thinking it was a good spot to eat the young mayor sat down on a bench got out his food from the take out bag and started to eat. As he sat there he watched as family's played in the park, as much as it warmed his heart Toshiro also felt a sting of pain as well.. Memories of playing with his parents filled his mind. It hurt knowing he would never be able to see them again.. Tears started to form in Toshiro's eyes so he lowered his head and started to stare at the ground and hoped no one would notice as he ate his burger.

[Lepa]

Another day, another attempt at monologuing.

Cassandra had originally made her trips to the park to practice the tiny bits of magic she had learned. It seemed like a better idea to attempt them in an open space rather than the closed off area that was her room, but... Well, when there was a higher risk of hurting people, she found the idea less appealing. Granted, most of the hexes she was attempting were small and harmless, but she couldn't bear the idea of accidentally inflicting a 3 day itch spell on an innocent bystander. Okay, maybe there was a chance they deserved it, but what if they didn't? The worry made her hesitate, and hesitation was bad for casting spells. That's why she opted to focus on practicing her "evil" monologues lately; at worst, someone would overhear her and she would embarrass herself, but that's what they were for: to help her be more comfortable. Or scare away bad people. She wasn't really sure anymore.

Of course, declaring yourself to be an evil princess had its own consequences, especially in a city full of heroes. Cassandra had learned that the hard way just a week or so ago, when a small, but terrifyingly buff man had leapt out of the bushes and challenged her to a fight. She was lucky that another person (an actual, capable fighter) came to her aid, but... Well, suffice to say, Cassandra learned to be a little bit more aware of her surroundings that day. That's why she had found a nice quiet spot alone to practice her monologuing.

"Foolish mortals!" Cassandra struck a pose on the greenery, flailing a stick about. "You think you can strike fear into the dark princess of chaos?! Behold, the arm of...!" She paused, lowering the stick. "Behold, um..." The bravado in her voice had vanished as she audibly hesitated. "Umm... Uhh... Y... Yug... Ah, nuts. What did I write down...?" She frowned, placing the stick down, reaching into her messenger bag. She pulled out a small book, flipping to a bookmarked page. "Um... Oh!" She nodded, readjusting her flower crown as she found the answer. Quickly, she clapped the book shut, assuming character. "Behold, the arm of Yyggdrasil!" She bellowed, waving the mere stick around once again. "With the knowledge bestowed upon me by the world tree, I shall know your every move!" The girl huffed her chest out. "The dark princess knows nothing of the word fear! Now... Perish!" She twirled her stick around dramatically, as if to cast a powerful spell. "Hiyah!"

No light or magic came out (she was just pretending after all), but the force of her acting was so great that the stick flew from her hands. Cassandra gasped in surprise as the stick sailed through the air. "Ack!" Her eyes widened. "Oh no...!" She flinched as the object hurled towards the bench where Toshiro sat. "Oh no, oh no, oh no...!" The girl panicked, running after the stick. Even when she managed to find a secluded spot, she still messed up! "Please don't hit, please don't hit, please don't hit...!" She prayed to herself as she ran.

Luckily, the stick overshot Toshiro, harmlessly falling to the ground in front of him. Cassandra caught up shortly after, curling over and grasping the bench for support as she panted, catching her breath. "I'm sorry!" She blurted out in panic. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, oh gosh, that could've hurt you! I'm sorry-" she continued to apologize, scrambling for the stick on the ground, refusing to make eye contact out of embarrassment. "I was just, um, playing... with this stick-" she quickly explained herself, but immediately realized how silly it sounded for a young adult to be playing with a tree fragment. "Er, that is to say... I mean..." Cassandra stammered, grabbing the stick. "I was just... I was cleaning up..." Cleaning up what, nature? That was a horrid excuse, sticks belonged in nature! "Er, no, that's not what I meant! I mean..." Cassandra stopped herself from talking, hanging her head in shame. Anything she said just dug herself deeper, so it was better to clam up now. She clutched a hand to her chest, closing her eyes and sighing deeply to clear her thoughts.

"...Sorry." She said, much more calmly before opening her eyes again. "I was just-" She started, looking Toshiro in the face for the first time, only to notice his tears. "O-Oh no!" She clasped a hand to her mouth. "O-Oh gosh, did I startle you? I mean, did the stick startle you?" Immediately, she began to panic again, once again commencing the string of apologies. "I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" She planted herself down on the bench, taking the seat next to him. She pulled her messenger bag onto her lap and started rummaging through it. "Oh gosh, oh geez, um, I think I have some napkins in here, and I'm sorry again, and-" She couldn't help but keep apologizing. Even if she wasn't the cause of Toshiro's tears, Cassandra didn't know that, but it didn't stop her from feeling personally responsible for it.

[Draken]

Moments before that happened, Kaede had grabbed lunch from a nearby burger shop and had decided to eat her lunch at the park. She sat at a bench that was next to Toshiro, pulled out the burger she purchased from the shop and started eating it. While she was enjoying her lunch she notice a girl with a crown of blue flowers in the distance wielding some sort of stick. She couldn't really tell what the girl was doing, maybe practicing for some sort of play perhaps? at least that's what it looked like to her so she continued to watch as she ate, but what really caught Kaede's attention was how high the stick flew from the girl's hands and as the stick got closer to her she notice at a split second it was about to hit the guy that was sitting at the bench that was next to her. Kaede was about ready to act but the stick landed on the ground faster that she couldn't even get a chance to get up and next thing she knew the girl who made that stick fly came up to him and tried to apologize to him. After all of that had happened Kaede would've done something but didn't know what to do and forgot she was looking at them while she was lost in thought.

[Yuki]

Toshiro had noticed that someone had sat down next to him though he made no effort to speak to her. He just wanted to be alone with this thoughts at the moment, though he felt he should properly move on soon just in case someone recognized him seeing as he stuck out right now because he did not bother using his illusion magic to look human. Though not to far off he heard someone talking rather loudly and to him it sounded like the woman was acting out something for a play. Though he did not bother to turn and look, but suddenly something went flying past his head and landed right in front of him. It startled Toshiro a little, his kitsune ears now standing straight up as his eyes blinked. But before he could react the women who had accidentally thrown the stick was now next to him and on top of that noticed his tears and thought that it was her fault he was crying.


She was so apologetic Toshiro himself felt bad. He then quickly wiped away his tears and offered a smile and held up his hands waving them a little. " N-no its fine you are not the one at fault for my tears.. I'm sorry I startled you. " Toshiro apologized. Though now the young mayor was at a loss for what to do perhaps a subject change? "Soo uh was that a play you where practiceing for earlier? I have to say You where sounding very good at your lines." Toshiro said in a attempt to help the woman feel better about what just happened.

[Lepa]

Cassandra finally pulled out a napkin - several of them, actually, but they scattered to the ground as she thrust a single one towards Toshiro. "Oh geez, I'm sorry it's all crumpled up, I swear it's clean, I didn't use it or anything-" She frantically continued as she scrambled to pick up the spares that dropped. As she plucked napkins off of the ground, she had heard him reassure her, and her movements became visibly less erratic. She visibly sighed in relief as she stuffed the remaining napkins back into her bag. At least she didn't... completely make a fool of herself.

...Until he asked her about her lines, at least. Her eyes widened for a moment as she quickly looked away to mentally collect herself. Aw, nuts, he heard that?! Oh no, what would she say? Oh, I was pretending to be a big bad villain to get over my fear of people? Even just practicing pretending to be a villain, which people traditionally were afraid of? Because her older brother did it? She couldn't tell the truth, especially to a stranger; that would be silly and embarrassing! But she didn't want to lie, either. Uwaaah, why was interacting with strangers so nerve wracking?!

"I, uh..." She slowly looked back to him, putting on a nervous smile. "Th-thanks! I was... definitely practicing, all right!" She nodded a bit too enthusiastically, neither confirming or denying that she was practicing for a play. But... oh no, did that seem like overly specific denial? Would he think that she was just trying to cover for being a real villain? "I mean... I'm not an actual dark princess... or anything..." She laughed nervously. Darn it, she thought. Now that seemed really specific. He'd think she was evil for sure!

Cassandra bit her lip as she looked around, hoping to focus on anywhere but Toshiro's face. Her eyes trailed upwards to the sky, but quickly stopped at the top of his head. Were those... E...E-Ears?! Animal ears?! Like... real ones?! How hadn't she noticed this earlier? She'd never seen someone with real ears on their head before! At least... she thought they were real. She knew cute animal hats and hair clips were a thing, but... well, in a place like Aster City, someone having real, genuine animal ears wouldn't be out of the ordinary. Wow... Were they fox ears? They looked soft and cute...

Before she knew it, her awed stare had been lingering on Toshiro's ears longer than she would've liked. Again, her eyes widened (this time out of realization of her rudeness) and she quickly looked elsewhere. Her gaze shifted to another girl sitting a bench over, staring at them. What? How long was she sitting there?! Was she watching the whole time? Did she think she was weird, too?! Man, today was just not Cassandra's day, was it? She'd been outside for an hour and already two people probably thought she was some huge weirdo!

"S-So, um.... y-yeah, not evil..." She nervously reiterated. "I try not to, uh... bother people with my practice... So, um. Sorry you, uh... had to... over ear that..." She froze briefly. "I meant overhear! Overhear!" Her head snapped back to Toshiro as she frantically waved her hands in denial. She ungracefully tried to change the subject. "B-But enough about that! What are you doing ear?" Her eyes widened again. "I meant here! What're you doing here! In the park!" Cassandra clenched her fists to her chest in embarrassment. Staring at his ears was rude enough, but her verbal clumsiness was not helping. At this point, her face had turned a fine shade of pink. All she wanted to do was just curl into a ball, but the best she could manage was just... planting her face into the messenger bag on her lap to hide her embarrassment.

[Draken]

As Kaede continued to watch the two, her attention was soon grabbed by something on the man. She didn't know if she was seeing things or if it was real, but what she saw right in front of her was a man who had ears that were not human. They almost looked like they were ears that belonged to a fox or perhaps...a kitsune? No, no, it couldn't be. That what she thought at first till she noticed he had two tails but how they looked made it look too good to be considered fake. The more Kaede tried to wrap this around her head, the more it made her confused by the minute. Her grandmother always told her stories of kitsunes when she was very young and as she got older she thought those stories were all made up but now she couldn't believe that she was actually seeing the real deal in front of her. In the end she decided to wait until the girl that was talking to him to leave and to see if the man was a kitsune.

(This is the point where Kaede will most likely observe the two until she gets an opportunity to talk to Toshiro)

[Yuki]

When the woman went to offer her some napkin's Toshiro again shook his head, "N-no its fine really." He repiled, once again feeling bad he was the one that startled her. He then listened when she went on to say she was indeed practicing for a play, though something seemed off in the way she spoke like she was really covering up for something else and she seemed to be in a slight panic. Though Toshiro was to much of a gentlemen to really say anything. If she did not want to say why she was saying those things who was he to ask? Or it could be she was just embarrassed, Toshiro decided that was most likely it. Then it seemed she had noticed his kitsune ears, ah he forgot to hide them with his illusion magic.. Haha his ears, fur and tails normally made people nervous so he used his illusion magic to look more human.. But alas he was hurry to get out the office he had forgotten about it. It was funny though how she was trying cover up the fact she saw his ears though he could not help but slightly chuckle. Toshiro leaned back and looked up at the sky, " I came out here because I needed some fresh air.. The walls of the office felt like they where enclosing on me." Toshiro said as his ears started to twitch a bit. "My ears are real by the way, I am half human half kitsune." Toshiro added to explain his ears though at the same time he hoped that she would not realize he was mayor he was enjoying this little chat and he did not want to make her anymore nervous then she already was.

[Lepa]

"Oh..." Cassandra lifted her head off of her bag, smiling nervously again. "O-Office, huh..." She managed to steal another glimpse at him from the side of her eyes. He looked young (younger than her, even) and... he had... an office job? She internally bit her lip. W-wow, he's already that mature, she thought. Here she was, heir to some oil tycoon with like a bazillion dollars, living a cushy life free of responsibilities, while this guy was responsible enough to have an office job! Cassandra wasn't sure why that awed her. Pencil pushing sounded boring, but... maybe it was because she was so dependent on her family. The idea of going off and living alone had crossed her mind a few times, but the thought of being alone scared her too much.

"My ears are real by the way, I am half human half kitsune."

"Oh!" Cassandra looked back to Toshiro completely, her eyes immediately glancing back to his ears. "R-Really?!" She clenched her fists excitedly. "Th-that's... really cool! I was wondering why they looked so fluffy and real! I've never met any kitsunes before!" It sounded silly coming from a resident of Aster City, but she never had much of a chance to meet its more colorful inhabitants. "And, um... Sorry, I forgot to mention... M-my name's Cassandra. What... about yours? I mean, only if you want to say it..." It was only fair to at least give her name after learning something as cool as that. She felt a little more comfortable now too as she looked over to Kaede. "And... um... You look like you've wanted to say something..." She tilted her head in curiosity. "Am... Am I right? Or, uh... If not... sorry..." Cassandra scratched at her head sheepishly.

[Draken]

At the time Kaede wasn't paying attention to the fact she had been watching them the entire time until Cassandra looked at her and asked. She thought of what to say and said "Well, I did but the two of you already answered my question before I thought about asking him." Kaede said as she tossed her garbage from the burger shop after finishing her burger. She then looks at Toshiro,"However I have to ask, even though you're a half-kitsune, what kind of kitsune are you?" She asks and wait for his answer. Even though she had been told kitsune stories as a kid she never actually heard of half-kitsune and getting an answer from Toshiro would point out what type he was. She would need to be careful if some of those stories she was told still held truth in them.

[Yuki]

Well it was nice to find someone who was not put off by the fact he was half human and half kitsune. Not that he blamed the ones who where, not all kitsune's where nice and a lot would often play nasty tricks on humans or just flat out attack. Ugh How Toshiro disliked those yako kitsunes.. But every race has their bad apples was the saying his Father would often say. When Cassandra said her name Toshiro nodded, " That is a lovely name, My name is Toshiro." He said his name without thinking. After his name rolled off his tongue Toshiro tensed up a bit, well where was hoping she never heard his name before. Though Cassandra soon spoke to someone else, Toshiro looked it was the girl he noticed earlier he had forgotten she was there. The look in her eyes made his heart drop a bit, it was the look he was too used to.. Someone who knew what Kitsune's where and was unsure about him. It become clear by the question she asked. Toshiro sighed and looked down at the ground and was silent for a bit before answering, he looked back up at Kaede. " I am a zenko Kitsune, My Mother was a Inari kitsune but stepped down as one when she fell in love with my Father." Toshiro replied and hoped that would be a good enough answer.

[Draken]

"A Zenko Kitsune..." Kaede replied, "So that is what you are then..." She says as she thinks on what Toshiro said but after some thinking Kaede finally comes to a decision and says to Toshiro, "Well considering whats happened until know that would actually make sense. If you were a Yako Kitsune you would've had a advantage over me given the fact I wasnt paying attention to you until Cassandra had toss that stick which landed in front of you, And to be Honest I never thought kitsunes actually existed until I actually got a good look at you." She says, but then the whole thing with his mother made her curious and she asked him again "Another thing I wanted to ask you is why did your mom step down from being a Inari kitsune?" While she was waiting for Toshiro to answer her, she turns to Cassandra and says, "By the way that quite the arm you have to throw a stick that far."

[Lepa]

"That is a lovely name. My name is Toshiro."

"A-ah!" Cassandra chirped. "Yeah... Thanks. Um. My parents gave it to me." Well... duh. Why did she say that? Of course they did, that's what parents do. Thankfully, she was able to hide her sheepishness when the kitsune continued. "Oh... Toshiro. That's... also a nice name." She nodded approvingly. She hadn't the faintest idea who he was, however.

As Kaede and Toshiro carried on a conversation of their own, Cassandra could only listen on in interest. "Wowie..." She muttered to herself. "I didn't know there were different types of 'em..." Of course there were, it only made sense; but it just wasn't something she'd really thought of before. As they talked, her eyes idled about, glancing down to Toshiro's tails. Like his ears, they also looked really fluffy... and cuddly. She found herself slowly succumbing to the soft cuteness before Kaede suddenly addressed her.

"By the way, that's quite the arm you have to throw a stick that far."

Cassandra's attention snapped back up to her. "Oh! I, uh... Th... Thaaanks?" She shrugged bashfully. "I didn't, uh... mean to, ha... haha..." Cassandra scratched at the back of her neck, laughing apprehensively. "It was an accident, that's all... Thankfully I didn't hit anyone." She sighed in relief, pulling a water bottle out of her bag and taking a few idle sips. Now that her nervousness was subsiding, she hadn't realized how thirsty her frantic antics had made her.

[Yuki]

Toshiro was growing uneasy with these questions, his tails started to twitch a bit, so she was wanting to learn more about why his mother stepped down as a Inari. Well answering would not be a bad thing. Its not like the Inari's are top secret if anyone wanted to learn about them all they had to do was read up on Kitsune lore. With a sigh Toshiro and leaned back looking up at the sky once more. "Inari's are guardian's when a Zenko gets to have 9 tails they have the choice to become a Inari, a protector of any town, city or village. This Role becomes who they are whatever name they had its gone and they are known as Inari. They watch over the place they are chosen to protect. And can even grant small wishes, most see them as deity's. However when they take this role they are not allowed to fall in love as they are supposed to dedicate everything into the role of the Inari. Mother broke that role when she fell in love, and even more tabo at the time it was a human she fell in love with. She could have denied her love and stayed a Inari but she chose to step down so she could be with my Father." Toshiro finished and hoped that was good enough.

[Draken]

"Ahh I see" Kaede said and just if it were on cue her alarm on her phone goes off and proceeds to grab it and check it. Once the alarm was silenced she noticed that she needed to start heading back to Kaelo's office and said to Toshiro "Well I think I've killed enough time already! I need to back to work. Sorry if I bugged you with all the kitsune stuff I've just never seen one before and just never really believed they existed, but seeing you here I guess that changes everything. Anyway you two have a good day." she says then starts to walk back to the office. Next thing she knew kaelo was going to have more errands for her to run or file more papers in order. Sure it wasn't fun but it was the least she could do for Kaelo when she just arrived in Aster City.

[Lepa]

"Oh... Okay then!" Cassandra knew Kaede wasn't talking to her, but she felt it'd be rude if she didn't at least say something. But... then what? She'd be left alone with Toshiro, and she wasn't really how to continue a conversation. Talking about her grandiose monologuing was out of the question, and all she really did was sit inside and play games or watch movies all day. Oh... Oh, wait! Maybe that's what they could talk about! Something like... A favorite Disney movie! That was always a fun topic, right? She nodded slightly to herself, taking another long sip of water. She had a rough start talking with this stranger, but she was definitely more comfortable now - something she felt a little bit proud of. She'd struggled with her fear of unfamiliar people for the longest time, but things were finally starting to look up!

"Well, whadda we got here?!"

Cassandra flinched at the sudden, rough voice. It came from a tall, dangerous looking punk. He had planted himself in Kaede's path, blocking her off. He was flanked by two others; they were smaller and younger than him, but looked just as shady.

"Where ya goin', sweetheart?" One of the cronies leered at Kaede, a smug look crossing his face. "A doll like you shouldn't be out by herself, yanno?"

"Why don't we escort you back to your... little job?" The second guy reached out for her wrist, clamping his hand around it. "Of course, it'll be for a little price, heh heh..." Their intentions were clearly anything but good.

"Hmph, I don't know about you two," their boss brushed past Kaede. "But I've got something else in mind," he grinned darkly, approaching the park bench. The punk glanced over Cassandra and Toshiro; his eyes narrowing in particular at the kitsune. "So we got a cutie having a little picnic... with a mutt." He sneered in disdain. Cassandra flinched as he looked back to her. "Hey, babydoll, why don't you ditch this animal and have some fun with me, eh?" He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "I can tell we'd have a real good time together..." He smirked.

"I... um... er..." Cassandra fidgeted as she fixated her eyes on the ground below her. "Nn... No... th-thanks..." She barely spoke above a whisper.

"What was that?" He put a hand to his ear in exaggeration. "I didn't quite get that! Mind repeating it?" The punk smirked again, this time putting a hand on her chin, forcing her to look up at him.

"Eek!" Cassandra squeaked at the motion, quickly pulling away and hiding her face in her hands. "I-I said no...!" She said, muffled. The man just laughed.

"Cute." He snorted. "I guess you're the type who just needs convincing, then! " His grin suddenly flipped into a sharp frown as he gazed back to Toshiro. "Don't tell me this mutt's your friend?" He was looking directly at the kitsune, but when he continued to address Cassandra, it was clear he thought of Toshiro to be nothing more than an animal. "Tch. Then how about I convince you this way?" He attempted to grab Toshiro by the collar and lift him off his seat. "Whaddya think, mutt?" The punk sneered at him. "Maybe if I rough ya up a bit, it'll convince her to come quietly with me, yeah?" He smiled deviously again as he held a fist up, showing he meant business.

"W-Wait! No!" Cassandra looked back up. "P-please! Don't hurt him!" She trembled, fists clenched to her chest in fear. She wanted to do something, but... all she could do was sit and plead...!