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[lumberlady]

[Lunatia's resident centaur lady is back on screen, and this time she's sharing the spotlight with... a table full of fresh vegetables? Still a bit dirty, fresh from the soil, good ol' vegetables... That Konoha bows over to start out.]

Hello, everyone! My name is Konoha... I'm a jinba, or a "centaur" if you want... I'm from Echigo in Japan, but lots of people say I'm from the past...

[She's just going to do the same introduction every time, counting off details on her fingers to make sure she gets all the good points... there's too many people on this thing and she doesn't check it enough to keep track... oops. Anyway-]

I wanted to ask people some questions about food! My husband and I have set up a little farmstead, but the crops are growing, um, way faster than they really ought to be... [we're just going to speed past the blush] and it's not like we actually have to work for money here, so I was thinking of not just taking the crops to market but... serving meals at the house? Or sending them to people elsewhere in the city? I don't know, but I've met a lot of people here who said they just eat food from the stores, and I know those are really convenient, but it can't be better than a home cooked meal, can it?


[Look at this big turnip! Isn't it healthy looking?! Don't you just want to eat it?? Konoha smiles, making the root vegetable dance around the screen.]

So... can I ask you some questions about what sort of food you like? Or what kind of things you miss from your home? Maybe what they make in your country with vegetables? If you give me some of your time, I'll send you some fresh ones as a "thank you"-

Promise!

[One last bow... and she and the turnip sign off.]

Comments

[lumberlady]

[For some reason... Konoha's coat stands on end a little bit when Shinobu says the part about friends. She doesn't want to doubt her, they just met, after all, and she was Giyuu's companion...

But a little shiver still makes its way from the top of her head all the way from human to equine portion of her long spine, ending with a little twitch of tail beneath her "skirt".]

L- Lord Sesshomaru and Kagura definitely haven't- well, they definitely haven't eaten any humans! Promise!

[She almost said they'd never killed any humans, but... she's pretty sure they had. And that... it definitely wasn't great, but she also had faith that they'd never killed any... nice people. She's sure. She's mostly sure.

Though looking between her two guests... maybe she'd let the demons know to be on guard just in case. And speaking of (thinking of) "just in case"...]

Besides... there's Moon Knights here, and they keep the peace here pretty well. I'm not even sure anyone could do demon slaying without getting in trouble... Have you met them? They're sort of like... like the shogunate police!

[These two were sort of new still, so maybe she should just remind them. (If only she knew.) At least, she thinks their worlds are similar enough that they might get her references.]

[insecution]

[ One ‘Lord Sesshomaru’ and ‘Kagura,’ was it? Shinobu files both names away for future reference. Human-eating or not, they’re still demons, and she wants to get to them before the one demon they know eats humans for certain does. ]

Then we have nothing to worry about, do we?

[ She beams, then joins Giyuu in helping herself to another mouthful of food. It almost catches in her throat at the mention of ‘Moon Knights,’ though, because oh, have they met them. ]

We are… acquainted with them, yes. [ Her tone of voice suggests that there’s a little more to their relationship than that, though. ] The Moon Knights are also currently in possession of Tomioka-san’s nichirin blade. Did he not tell you?

[lumberlady]

[Konoha... really hopes they don't have anything to worry about.

But the tone of Shinobu's voice makes her brow furrow a bit in concern, looking between the two demon slayers as she absently... keeps shoveling food into her mouth. She's worried, but she's not... not-eat worried. Yet.]

Nichirin... blades? Do they glow... or something?

[Like the sun??? Now that she's looking it's obvious that... Shinobu is wearing one and Giyuu isn't, but.]

We didn't talk about swords... Did- Did something happen?

[Did he get arrested?!]

[insecution]

[ Apropos of nothing, Shinobu pulls her weapon free from a strange clicking mechanism, then removes it clean out of its sheath. It looks less like the sword she supposedly says it is and more like a barb or a pointed rod. Strange though it might be, they are still at the dinner table and it is dangerous, so she’s mindful not to brandish it about. ]

They do! But that’s not why they’re called nichirin blades. [ She laments that she can’t make a show of putting hers back where it belongs. ] I’ll leave it to him to bore you with the specifics.

[ She’s more than happy to regale Konoha with the story of how he lost his sword, though. Hers snug at her side again, she goes back to eating with everybody else.

… or, rather, poking at what food remains in her bowl instead. Something’s keeping her from enjoying her meal. ]

He found a demon who has eaten humans. [ The word ‘demon’ oozes from her mouth like a vile sort of tar. ] They fought, of course, but because that goes against city law, the Moon Knights saw fit to intervene. Tomioka-san was arrested and his sword was confiscated as a result.

So, yes: we have met the Moon Knights! I’d say we know them very well, in fact.

[lumberlady]

[Konoha almost asks what it is Shinobu means by that... but something in the tone makes her think maybe she should just... have Giyuu over again another time and ask then. Swords weren't necessarily the best dinner conversation anyway... but then again, neither was human-eating demons.

Which... makes her avoid the meat in her dish of hot pot in favor of the vegetables for a little while.

Though she kind of forgets to chew when looking at the sword Shinobu draws from the sheath. Was that... a sword? It was barbed, like a stinger on a hornet or something...]

A- Ah...

[If it had been a public brawl then she can understand how the Moon Knights would have gotten involved, but-]

Did... the demon get arrested, too? Are they going to give the sword back?

[Surely they wouldn't just keep it???]

[insecution]

No, it wasn’t.

[ Said demon is an ‘it,’ because he’s more monster than man and hardly deserves her respect. He doesn’t even have to be in the room to infuriate her. Her nose wrinkles, as if the vegetable she’s chosen to eat has suddenly taken on a flavor and texture she can no longer stomach. However tempting the urge is to spit it out, Shinobu swallows her mouthful with the high hope her mounting frustration will disappear, too. ]

The Moon Knights were more upset with Tomioka-san than they were the demon. I have a feeling they don’t like him, so I don’t think they’re looking to give it back to him anytime soon. But that’s okay! I can take care of things on my own in the meantime.

[ She prefers it that way, too. Giyuu is more trouble than he is help, especially when he’s swinging his sword willy-nilly and attracting the wrong attention. ]

If you have any trouble—with demons or whatever else goes bump in the night around these parts—you just give us a call, alright? We’ve got it covered.

[lumberlady]

That's horrible...

[Poor Giyuu? Maybe they were more mad at him because it looked like he started the fight? Surely he needed his sword back... but Shinobu doesn't seem that worried, and she would know best, right? So maybe it was alright?

Maybe?]

Thank you, Miss Kochou... My husband is really strong, so I'm not too worried, but... if anything stronger than him is out there, I'm so glad I can call you...

[Because they're talking about demons, and obviously those sound scary... but she's seen Gonta fight off an entire pack of wolves. And there was the bear, too, so it... is a little hard to imagine something stronger than him unless she's trying much harder. Plus, there was the matter of Sesshomaru, but she probably shouldn't mention the dog demon in the woods again...

And if she tries harder, this dinner is going to get... even more morbid, even though she'd taken out some of her best ingredients for this hot pot. Would it be weird to change the subject?]

Will you... do anything else in the meantime? Between demons, I mean? There's so much in this place that didn't exist in our worlds... and it would be awful if you felt like you had to just keep fighting, even here... the Moon Knights can usually manage things...

[Usually.

Did that work??]

[insecution]

I’m not quite sure yet.

[ Shinobu’s never given it much thought because she’s never been afforded the opportunity to. She was barely as tall as Konoha’s legs are long when she decided she had to fight. Fighting is all she’s known. She thought it’d be all she’d ever need to know, too. Having long since surrendered herself to her inevitable fate, she didn’t think there’d be anything else for her. It’s not that way anymore, though; Lunatia’s changed that, and whether it’s for better or for worse, she can’t yet say.

What she can say is that she now has the opportunity to consider all of it: what to do if she doesn’t need to fight, what world awaits her now that she doesn’t have to condemn herself to death and, perhaps most importantly, what it might be like to finally live beyond surviving. It’s a lot to digest. She’ll have to chew on that once she’s done chewing her food. ]

I think I’ll have my hands full with him. [ Giyuu gets a pointed glare. ] I doubt I’ll have any time to myself at all—not if him showing up to my apartment with two lungs full of blood is any indication. Taking care of that was several days’ worth of work!

[lumberlady]

[Oh.

Konoha hadn't known many soldiers in her own world- not proper career ones, anyway. She was low by birth, the daughter of an armless broodmare and the adopted child of rural farmers, and the only people she'd known who had fought in the wars that raged when she was too young to remember were drafted commoners- at least, the few that had come home with scars both physical and mental. Her adopted parents' sons had never come back.

But since leaving that village for worlds beyond she's met lots of people who claimed to know only violence and fighting... and her capacity to feel pity for that lot in life hasn't waned. It seemed so sad... even if she'd learned not to say so out loud too easily for risk of offense.

So... she just looks for some other way to help. Finds it. She thinks Giyuu could take care of himself, but if Shinobu would feel better knowing someone was looking out for him...]

Then... When you need time to yourself you can just send Tomioka-san to me! We have a small room above the storehouse, and my husband and I could always use an extra hand, especially during harvests!

[Which came... way more frequently than was natural for their crops thanks to the rather potent fertilizer that was moonlacing, so-

She looks over to Giyuu to make sure he was alright with that... which. Maybe she'd been super wrong about thinking they were married, this was slightly more verbal abuse than she's used to seeing between coworkers-]

Right, Tomioka-san?

[tomioka]

[ Though at many times the talking point of their conversation, Giyuu himself hardly said a word throughout. For the bulk of it, his mouth was full of food - not words. That only comes about when he's pressed for an answer by their host, to which he first responds by finishing off a cup of hot tea.

Then he lets out a breath. A long one. So long, in fact, that it seems it might never end; until abruptly, it does. Out from his mouth spills the first sound he's made in quite some time - ]

Koff.

[ Along with blood that he catches on the inside of his hand. Rather than pay it any mind however, Giyuu believes that the cause had already been explained in enough detail, and retreading that ground would only make him the target for further harassment from Shinobu. So he simply lowers his hand and nods. ]

If there is ever a need. [ Here, he gives his fellow demon slayer a look, one perhaps more self-assured than she's ever seen before, but it's short-lived; his eyes make contact with Konoha's right after. ] Perhaps even when there isn't.

[insecution]

Great! You can keep him for as long as you’d like.

[ Had she not cared for what it might to do them in the long-term, she’d have them keep Giyuu forever. Foisting him off on such a wonderful couple seems a bit mean, though—even for her.

That aside, he’s in no position to be working for them regardless. Shinobu can tell as much from a simple little cough. Anybody else might reason it as Giyuu clearing his throat or choking on a wad of food he didn’t chew properly, but she knows better. His breathing’s been off for a while now. Him struggling to deaden the noise of each in- and exhale only serves to further confirm her suspicions; he’s still not well and he’s gone too long without bed rest. He’s likely only holding on through sheer force of will, the stubborn idiot that he is.

If he won’t do what’s best for him, Shinobu will get him to do it herself. She rises from her seat at the table, but not without first dipping her head towards their gracious host. ]

Thank you for the food, Konoha-san. I’ll have to make sure he’s fit to work before he comes by to trouble you again.

[ Giyuu gets a look in return that tells him not to challenge her. ]

Shall we head back?

[lumberlady]

[Konoha doesn't know much about healing. Sure, she knows that you should get the poison out of viper bites, splint broken bones, and try to keep cuts clean... But she certainly doesn't know the difference between blood-in-the-lungs coughing and I've-been-stuffing-my-face-this-whole-time coughs. What she does have is a keen nose, and there's a moment when her brows turn down in confusion, the scent of iron she associates with blood spiking in the corner of her senses, but-]

Oh-

[But then Shinobu is standing, and Konoha bows back automatically, her mind more than sufficiently distracted and a few seconds behind her body. Already? But then again, she'd probably invited them so suddenly they likely had other things to be doing, so-]

Of course! Here, at least let me pack some things for you-

[With a scrape of hooves on the floor she gets back to her feet, using the apron hanging in front of her equine lower chest to protect her hands as she takes the hot pot off the hearth hook and trots into the kitchen for a few minutes...

Before she's back and ready to see them out, a few plastic containers (plastic was so amazing?) bundled up in a furoshiki that she hands to Giyuu with a smile. He's bigger, okay, and she might have put more than just the hot pot leftovers in there. There might also be some rice balls, pickles, and boiled meat and potatoes stuffed in there, too.

She likes it when people can appreciate home cooking, okay?]

Come back any time, alright? Even just to talk.

[And alright, maybe that was a strange thing to say in front of Giyuu more than Shinobu, but. She couldn't help but be curious about this Japan that they knew.

Next time.]