Seijuro and Lily walk into Hayashi's Inn. She had her arm wrapped around his shoulder and he holds her up, helping her to walk. Her clothes were ripped and her hair was out with the lily flower, placed on the right side of her head and her face was slightly dirty and cut. Meanwhile Seijuro's face was also slightly dirty and he had a cut on his cheek and the right side of his head. The man at the front desk looks up, his shades covering his eyes and face remains expressionless. His hair was combed back and he pushes his shades up,
"Looks like you children went through quite a struggle." He says in an expressionless tone.
Lily frowns at his blunt response and Seijuro blinks in confusion,
"We'll just head to our rooms."
"Wait." They both stop and look at him.
The man takes something off the shelf behind him. He hands them two rolls of bandages and a two bottles of honey,
"For your wounds."
"Thanks." Seijuro says, as he takes the roll of bandages and walks away, still helping Lily.
He helps her into her room and sits her down,
"You gonna be ok patching yourself up?" She frowns slightly,
"Yeah, I am. You can go." Seijuro nods and walks away,
"And Yoshiki…" He turns around before leaving,
"Thanks." He gives her a small smile, before walking to his own room.
He slides the door open, placing his sword on the wall and walks towards his bathroom. He slides open the door and looks in the mirror. He takes off his haori and his top, throwing them to the side on the floor,
Ok… let's clean myself up…
He looks at the cut on his cheek and the cut on the side of his head. He washes his hands and takes the honey, poking his finger into it and gently applying it onto his wounds. He unties his hair and takes off the rest of his clothes, before walking to the steam bath and sitting in it,
What a day… we couldn't stop the boogeyman and it can use techniques. Lily is in no shape to fight yet, so we have to wait… but that means that thing is going to claim more victims…
Seijuro frowns and clutches his necklace. After a while, Seijuro gets out of the mushiburo and wraps a towel around himself. He goes to his bedroom and dries himself off and grabs a new set of clothing. He now wears a grey and white hakama with a white zori. On his torso, he wears a black haori himo and a black haori on.
Seijuro ties his hair back and walks outside. He knocks on Lily's door, who slides it open. Lily had her hair open and her face was now clean. She still had her lily flower placed in her hair. She is wearing a blue kimono and has an expressionless look on her face,
"What." She says bluntly,
"Just wanted to check up on you and don't you want to talk about what happened?" She sighs and gestures for him to come inside.
They both sit down on their knees and opposite each other in front of a table. On it, were two bowls of green tea,
"The guy at the front desk brought me this. He didn't even remember my name."
"Yeah… he's kinda strange." Seijuro takes a sip and smiles a bit,
"It's really good." Lily also takes the small bowl and drinks it,
"So, two boogeymen that can talk and use techniques."
"Yeah… strange."
"We haven't found anything on that Jiro guy too, or any of the missing dreamcatchers." Lily looks down and then up at Seijuro,
"How fast did you take out your boogeyman out?" He blinks in confusion to her question,
"Does that… really matter…?"
"But it used a technique, right?"
"Yeah, so it could escape." Lily grits her teeth,
So, it would have killed me, but let Yoshiki live… damn that thing…
"It doesn't die either. I hit its heart and it was still alive."
"So did mine."
"It spoke weirdly. It was saying stuff like, 'I'm your saviour' and 'they will grant him power.' He spoke like he was some sort of saint."
"They?" Lily asks with her eyebrow raised,
"Most likely referring to the Kings. I can't think of anyone else he would refer to."
"Yeah. You're probably right, but why would the Kings need a boogeyman?"
"Good question… wish we had the answer to it." He takes another sip of from the bowl and looks at Lily,
"Yoshiki, what are we gonna do? Our mission is to find dreamcatchers, not chase a boogeyman."
"These boogeymen are probably the reason for them being missing. From what we can distinguish, they most likely stay near the woods. The only thing is, they are most likely dead." She nods in response,
"So, the plan?"
"We can rest up for tomorrow and then, at dawn, we stay near the tree line."
"The tree line is huge. How on earth are we meant to see them and this is all a theory." She frowns and crosses her arms,
"We stay on high ground, where children are present, its main target."
"Alright, and then?"
"It can split itself and join back together. So, plunging the sword into their hearts doesn't seem to disperse them at all. Stalling them will only disadvantage us." Seijuro places a hand on his chin,
"If we infuse our own dark matter with it… maybe we could disperse that way." He looks up and raises an eyebrow,
"The only problem with it, it will heavily cripple our own dark matter. You're more useful and, as much as I hate to admit it, stronger than me right now. So, I'll be the one to do that." He nods,
"We should use that as a last resort though."
"Fair enough." They both finish off their green teas and place their bowls down,
"Tomorrow, you should rest. That hit from the boogeyman looked pretty bad."
"Yeah, you're probably right." Seijuro's eyes widen slightly,
Wow… she actually agreed with me…
"What you gonna do?"
"Train a bit and polish up my Matter Dash. I have a few ideas of how I can make it even stronger."
"I see." Lily looks away,
I still can't even do it… and Yoshiki is already thinking about how to make it stronger… damn it…
"Should we inform Captain Frank?" She snaps out her thoughts and looks at Seijuro,
"Not yet. We have a plan so there's nothing to worry about."
"Nothing to worry about? This plan we devised, is because there is something to worry about."
"Look, the captains probably already have their hands full right now. Wecan do this, ok?"
"I know, but we should at least tell him about what's happened so far."
"If our plan fails." He sighs and nods,
"Alright, but we can't kill those boogeymen immediately."
"Why not?"
"The dreamcatchers. We have to find them."
"Oh yeah… they're most likely dead though."
"That's our mission, Lily. To find them."
"I know what our mission is. I don't need you to remind me." She replies harshly.
He sighs and looks down at the empty bowls. An awkward silence fills the air and Seijuro opens his mouth to speak,
"The tea was nice." She lets out a sigh and stands up,
"Yeah, it was." Lily picks up the bowls, sliding open the door and walks out the room, while Seijuro waits patiently.
She walks back in and glances him,
"I'll head back to my room. I'm going to train till evening and then probably scout the nearby area." She sighs and nods,
"Take care of yourself, Yoshiki. Sorry for snapping."
"You too, Lily and don't worry about it." He walks out and heads back to his room.
He takes off his haori and haori himo. He remains topless and takes off his hakama pants. He removes his zori and places a pair of black pants on, remaining barefoot. Seijuro moves two seats and a table to the side. He takes his sword and unsheathes it. Now standing in the middle of the room, he practises his swings, moving his sword left and right. Seijuro begins to sweat and performs a twist backflip, landing perfectly on his feet,
"No practicing indoors, Kenji." Seijuro let's out a small scream and jumps back to the sudden voice.
He turns around with wide eyes and sees the man at the front reception with an expressionless face and the same shades on his face,
"How did you get in here?!" Seijuro yells, ignoring the fact he got his name wrong,
"I was checking if your room is tidy." He blinks in confusion,
"Ok… but don't come in when I'm not here, please."
"Yes, Lisa."
"It's Seijuro."
"That's what I said." He walks to the door and exits,
Man… that guy is strange. How did I not even notice him?
Seijuro shrugs it off and continues practising his swordplay.