"So, I've been put in charge of you today..?" Miko gave the jiang shi a curious lookover. Yoshika only nodded in response, staying silent. They were both sat on the ground inside, near the mausoleum's entrance. Miko knew Yoshika would need help getting up. Aside from that, the silence was a little awkward. "Well, Seiga left with short notice today. Do you have any idea what she's up to?"
Yoshika finally looked up at the princess, turning her head. "I... Think she ran out of paper.. Things..? For me?" The zombie girl paused to clear her throat with a small groan. "She was a little nervous. I could tell, a little. But.. She was doing her best to... Um.. Hide it. ..Yeah." Miko nodded in response. "Yeah, I see. I was only wondering 'cause she doesn't usually leave very suddenly like that." Miko did notice that Yoshika was lacking her usual ofuda that day. But it was weird, because Seiga usually always noticed when she was running low. Only 'cause Futo happened to be terrified of when Yoshika mumbled poems, though. Luckily the princess's best friend wasn't with her at the moment.
When Miko tuned back to reality, the zombie was still looking in her direction, just more downwards now. And her arms were at her sides instead of outstretched now. The old, loose bandages around her wrists now dragged along the floor as she took labored breaths. Miko blinked. "When was the last time Seiga changed your bandages?" Yoshika shook her head. "Um.. She keeps them on until I've eaten enough to fix up whatever is under them. I'm hungry.."
Miko tilted her head a little. "You mean there's not enough spirits around to feed you?" The jiang shi nodded. "That's unusual. You literally live in a cemetery, I don't see why there wouldn't be. ..'N there hasn't been for a while?" Yoshika didn't look up at Miko with her response. "I.. Don't understand..." She sounded a little upset, and the princess assumed she'd said too much at once for the zombie to handle. "Sorry, Yoshika. Maybe you should ask Seiga about why your bandages haven't come off yet, is all," she corrected herself, and Yoshika visibly perked up. "Ask... Seiga," she muttered to herself absentmindedly. "I'll try to remember!" she then exclaimed determinedly. Miko chuckled to herself, placing a hand atop Yoshika's hat. "There you go. Now, is there anything you want to do?"
It was then Yoshika finally looked at Miko with big eyes, and Miko let her hand down. "Anything... I want to do..?" At this, the princess realized that the jiang shi didn't get to make decisions like this often, so she had no proper idea how to. "Well, yeah," Miko started explaining, trying to make it simple. "You don't have your little paper thing on your head so you can do what you want." Yoshika's eyes narrowed as she finished, seemingly trying to grasp the concept of actual free will. "Uh-huh..." She then looked down at the floor in front of her. "What I want to do..."
Yoshika was a little mischievous, that was true. Her choice ended up with a terrified Futo. Miko had a feeling Futo would come after her later for letting the jiang shi do that. But, Yoshika'd only snuck up on her while reciting some sort of poem, and then shouted once she was close enough. Tojiko even saw her coming, as she was talking with Futo, but she didn't say anything.
But, still, Miko knew for sure Futo would get back at her for letting Yoshika do that. Miko was in charge of her, after all.
"That was not nice of you, Yoshika," she stated as the walked to the entrance of the mausoleum. For Yoshika, her walk a little more of a slow hop, so Miko had to slow a little. "Well... I found it funny," the zombie responded. "But.. If others don't find it very funny... That's not cool." Miko nodded, but then wow'd at Yoshika's sudden understanding. Maybe it was her history of poems, because lots of the time, poems teach lessons, right?
"Maybe I shouldn't do things like that, then." Miko looked at her sternly, but not too sternly. She knew Yoshika wasn't very resilient. "No, you shouldn't. It's not nice. Or 'not cool', as you said." Yoshika looked up at her with big eyes once again. "Yeah... Y-yes!" She then stumbled, and the princess caught her, chuckling under her breath.
"Would it just be better if i carried you? Can't you fly..?" Yoshika squirmed, grunting. "Oh, yeah! I can! And fast, too!" Yoshika squirmed out of Miko's arms this time, landing on the floor face first, her arms out in front of her. She then lifted off the ground, in the same position, leaving her hat on the ground. "Oh... Can you.. Get that for me?"
Instead, Miko put an arm around Yoshika, and then grabbed her hat. The princess straightened the jiang shi, and then set her back on the ground. "Relax, Yoshika. Seiga's not waiting outside." Yoshika, who'd previously been staring straight forwards, looked down. "But what if she is?" Miko gave her an unamused look she couldn't see. "If she is, I'll take Tojiko's turn to help feed you at the next meal. Or, just, later." At this, Yoshika instantly perked up. "Then let's go! It's right there!" She pointed at one of the many dark hallways lining the way to the entrance. After a pause, Miko corrected her. "Yoshika, that's a hallway. The entrance is this way." Miko turned her head in the actual direction as she said this so Yoshika could hear it. Yoshika's body followed Miko's voice with a turn, a blank stare lining her face. "Oh," she muttered. "Then let's go!" She exclaimed, now smiling.
Yoshika tumbled out of the mausoleum, somehow landing on her back after spinning. She was making excited noises, like grunts and squeals. Miko followed quietly. While she was only looking after Yoshika for only maybe an hour, she sure was tiring. How did Seiga do this on the daily? For a whole day, at that!
Speaking of Seiga, her familiar voice suddenly broke Miko's thoughts. "Oh my," she said, and Yoshika gasped loudly. "Seiga?! Seiga, I hear Seiga!" The zombie thrashed wildly on her back. "Yes, yes. Hello, sweetie." Seiga, who approached, sitting on her cloth, had a small smile on her face. She looked down at Yoshika, seemingly amused by her actions. She then looked up at Miko, who stood, arms crossed and leaning on a leg. "Thank you, Miko. You look like you barely managed." The princess gave Seiga a look that told her 'wouldn't you think?' Seiga nodded.
"Yoshika, darling, I'm going to need you to stand," she then moved on, looking back down at her jiang shi. Yoshika stopped moving and looked in Seiga's general direction. "I can't," she states with a moan. And with that, and a flick of Seiga's finger, Yoshika was back on her feet.
"I got you a new ofuda!"
Yoshika looked bemused.
"Oh, come on, it's not that bad. Come, sweetie."
Yoshika stepped closer, grimacing at Seiga. "Do I have to..?" Seiga nodded, and pulled the pre-prepared ofuda from her leg. She stuck it to Yoshika's head with a small metal tack, and Yoshika blinked hard. After a moment, she sighed. "Seiga, I can't read this..? Did you write it in that other language? The one that has only kanji."
Seiga put a finger to her chin disappointedly. "I thought we were working on your Chinese. Do you still need Japanese ofudas?" She then took the paper back off gently. She pulled a blank one from her leg, discarding of the old ofuda by placing it in Yoshika's open mouth. As she chewed on it, Seiga pulled out the brush she kept on her leg as well and scribbled on the new paper. She then stuck that to Yoshika's head with a new metal tack. "I hope you enjoyed your meal, hun, but we're eating later," she said. Miko finally interjected after just listening.
"Yoshika and I made a deal that if you were somehow waiting outside, I'd feed her later. So you don't have to tell Tojiko to do it." The princess relaxed her stance. "Now I've gotta go let Futo commit arson 'cause she's not very happy with Yoshika and I." With a glance at the zombie, Miko quickly made her exit back into the mausoleum. And Seiga didn't seem too pleased afterwards.
"What did you do, Yoshika?"
Yoshika didn't respond, knowing she was about to get told off.
Besides, she didn't actually remember what she'd done now.
