tampered | LOG: complete

LOG: complete

When; June 20, morning (that’s right, we are forward-logging)
Rating; PG-13 for possible violence
Characters; Kon [

easy_adapter], Kuchiha

toothmarktaboo], and Toki [

lefteye_blind]
Summary; Kon and Kuchiha are affected by the curse and target their poor roommate.
Log;

Kon had spent the previous day job-hunting, so when he’d stumbled upon a vendor giving away baskets of fresh cherries, he had no words of warning to heed. He took them, thanked the woman, and proceeded back to the temple to announce the good news to his friends. When he arrived, he did not turn on his laptop as he should have. Instead, he emptied the cherries into a strainer in the room’s sink for washing.

He glanced over his shoulder at the room’s only other occupant and whispered in a most conspiratory way, “Hey, Kuchiha, take a look at these.”

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Being the hostess of a dog spirit has its benefits, but it also has its binds. The second Kon emptied the wicker carrier, Kuchiha's nose tingled, and she bound towards the kitchen to watch the dark red spheres of succulent size reveal themselves to her senses. Her eyes glimmered and her mouth watered; she couldn't resist and nabbed a branch before they were even dried.

An odd number of the fruit between her jaws, she blurted out, "These are fantastic! Where did you get them?"

The long-haired warrior enjoyed the rich nectar while she could before the symptoms of the day's fated curse would surface.

Kon was about to scold Kuchiha for snatching cherries before they'd dried, but she'd already swallowed several, so he didn't bother. Admittedly, they looked delicious. They were practically tempting him.

"I got them for free at the market," he replied, his tone calm in contrast to Kuchiha's ecstasy. He plucked a cherry from the bunch and popped it into his mouth, chewing slowly. It really was an excellent pick.

And then, for some reason, Kon had the sudden urge to shed blood. He didn't know where it came from or why he was thinking about it, but there was a certain desire to make offers to a voice in his head and it had to be sated now.

"I'm back!"

The door slid open to reveal Toki carrying a bunch of baking ingredients- flour, sugar, that type of stuff- smiling brightly. He had went all the way down to the market and back without stumbling once. It was a great accomplishment in his case since a few days earlier he would stumble every two and a half steps.

He stood in the doorway for quite some time before sensing that something was wrong. Toki couldn't quite place how, but it might have had to do with the way his friends were looking at him.

It was so abrupt. One moment Kuchiha felt euphoric, and the next she felt vicious. She began to unconsciously chant about a tree. Feeding a tree. Globs of sweat began to form beneath her thick brown bangs, and her olive eyes darted nervously around the room. She paid no heed to the change in Kon's countenance, for she herself was changed in the face.

Then Toki walked in, so innocent, so unaware, so fresh for the picking, like the cherries were.

"You..." she began, slitting her mouth in two wider and wider. An unsettling smile expanded, and Kuchiha was stepping towards the eyepatched boy with hands outstretched.

Fresh meat.

Those were the words running through Kon's head upon Toki's entrance. The boy would make a perfect gift for the voice in his head, the tree's voice, he decided. What a delicious find.

As Kuchiha approached Toki from the front, Kon slipped past and reached out from the boy's side. A strong hand wrapped around his wrist.

"Toki-kun," Kon whispered dangerously. "What perfect timing."

Taken by surprise, he dropped the items in his hold, the neatly packaged contents spilled over the floor.

Shit.

That was the word that ran through Toki's mind as Kuchiha advanced on him. Something was definitely wrong. They way they acted, the way they spoke, everything. He struggled to break free from Shinonome's hold. The more he tried though, the more his friend's hold on his wrist hurt.

"What the hell, Shinonome, you bastard, let me go! This isn't funny!"

Maybe if he had some soap or something slippery he'd be able to get free...

Soap or oil wouldn't give the prey the slip here. Despite her size, Kuchiha had strength behind her frame, and she used a hefty amount to pin Toki to the wall. Keeping a hold on his other arm and shoulders, she narrowed her eyes and addressed Kon:

"Should we tie him?"

"Yes, and gag him too, so he doesn't attract any attention."

The man let go of Toki's wrist and retreated to a corner of the room where the three kept an odd mix of supplies. There was no rope, but Kon gathered the bedsheets and tied them together as best as he could with one hand. He returned to where Kuchiha had their prey against the wall.

He held one end of the makeshift rope to her. "Help me with this."

Tie him? Gag him?!

What the hell was going on? The two were obviously out of their minds!

For a moment he stared wide-eyed at the makeshift rope, then he started thrashing about. It was against his morals to hit a girl but Kuchiha could handle more, and considering the current strength she was using to keep him against the wall, Toki didn't stand a chance. He was at an extreme disadvantage and he wasn't happy about it.

"What's wrong with you two? Why are you doing this? Get a grip on yourself!"

Steeling himself, he headbutted Kuchiha with all his strength.

As she reached for the bedsheet-made-rope, Kuchiha received the cranial blow with her guard down, causing her to yelp and let go. She had a hand pressed against her face, temper rising; then she snapped. Grabbing the rope, she lunged at Toki with a snapping speed, tumbling to the ground in a roll. She was on his back, quickly fastening both his hands and feet. As she pulled the rope taut, she leaned down to his head level so that she could speak into his ear.

"Be a good sacrifice and cooperate. We don't want to damage you more than we need to," she barked, frowning, head still hurting.

Kon watched Kuchiha move with an unfazed expression, and when she'd successfully pinned their prey again, he moved to crouch beside them. Without asking for permission, he reached out and pushed Kuchiha's bangs out of her eyes to inspect the spot where Toki had hit her. Satisfied there was only minimal damage, he grabbed the captured boy's upper arm and heaved him to his feet.

"Let's go," he snapped, pushing Toki towards the door.

A series of profanities swam in his train of thoughts.

Talking didn't help snap them out, not that he had tried really hard. Seriously, if a headbutt to the head didn't wake Kuchiha up, how was talking going to do any better?

Pulled onto his feet, he gave a glare towards Shinonome before quickly scanning the room for any explanation to their strange behavior. Then he spotted it.

The cherries.

The network had gone raving mad yesterday about that particular fruit. So this was the effect of the cherries on people...Kuchiha and Shinonome were trying to sacrifice him to a cherry tree. Great.

Toki racked his brain for possible ways to escape as he took several small steps toward the door as ordered. When there's a rope made out of bedsheets tied about your ankles a running escape isn't quite possible, neither is walking.

The girl blinked indifferently as her accomplice checked her injury (which was nothing big, but it did throb). She would have blushed at his warm touch, but there were more pressing matters that lifted her to her feet and moved her forward. They would now take Toki to the cherry tree. Flanking their back, Kuchiha proceeded to their "master," appearing more satisfied the closer they got to the tree.

They had to drag him, really, because tying up his ankles wasn't helping at all, and Kon was growing tired of the boy's squirming. At one point, he bent over and hoisted Toki over his shoulder for easier movement. It was uncomfortable having a writhing teenager on his shoulder, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Kon ignored the passersby as they made their way towards the tree and didn't even speak to Kuchiha, but no words were necessary. They knew their purpose and their intent.

Toki squirmed as much as he could. Flailing was obviously one of his strong points. As much as he'd hate to slip off Shinonome's shoulder and fall face flat on the floor, it was good to stall for time. The struggle did nothing.

Several times he tried to get violent but he didn't have that much strength compared to his friends. Friends. Were they still his friends? They were just being mindsucked cherry zombies, right? Why couldn't they fight it?! Where had Shinonome and Kuchiha gone?!

He thrashed angrily on Shinonome's shoulder, pounding with his fists, knocking his head to the side to continually pound Shinonome's head. The more he did so, the more tired he got. Toki panted slightly taking a break from his struggle.

The gears in his head started clicking.

Bruises were beginning to spot Kuchiha's legs, and she kept her patience until she was kicked in the shin and nearly caused to fall. At that assault, she retaliated with her own, thrusting her knee to his groin. ~~Ow.~~

Pulling him up to her face by his collar, she growled, "One more and I'l center." And huffing, she dropped him but still held onto his shirt, dragging him like a ragdoll. Kuchiha shut her eyes and sighed, frustrated; at least they were nearly at their destination.

It was Kon's turn to follow, which he was rather grateful for since he'd also received bruises on his back and head. At least with Kuchiha dragging the boy, Kon could fill his pipe and light it. It was almost like a leisurely stroll—to pay a sacrifice, of course, but that was a detail.

The trio reached the base of the great cherry tree and saw that the ground was already littered with offerings. Some were hanging in the branches, and others were pinned to the trunk. Kon took Toki from Kuchiha's grip and threw him bodily onto the mass of roots.

He was fully aware of the cherry tree's guardian watching from a close distance.

Kon turned back to the most recent sacrifice, bent down, and grabbed the boy by the hair. "You be a good kid and don't run away, you hear? We'll be back tomorrow to check on you."

That said, he stood, letting go of Toki, and turned away. It was time to hunt for the next victim.

The boy hurt all over, being thrown to a bunch of uncomfortable roots, having tried as many self defense mechanisms as he could think of, he hurt even more than could be described.

If had any more fire left in him he would have spat on Shinonome. He was still angry. That was sure. He was angry that his friends had tried to sacrifice him. The best friends he had ever had. The ones that he had thought were true. But he was also sad, he knew that it was all the tree's fault, but couldn't they have tried to fight back?

He stared up at the branches of the cherry tree and sighed.

"Hey, what do you want with all these people, you're already pretty enough. Too much and you'll get sick, and ugly. Probably both."

Great. He was talking to the fucking tree too. Toki turned his head sorely towards the tree's keeper.

"Excuse me? Could you untie these ropes, if you please?"

Because Kon took care of most things, Kuchiha could only stand and watch, and she did so patiently. She braved stroking the tree, sighing happily; then, she when the black-haired man got ready to leave, she shuffled next to him with a hand on her katana.

Their shadows eclipsed Toki and shrunk away, but Kuchiha, as if regaining a shard of her memory before the curse, glanced behind her and knit her brows in doubt. Alas, the cherry tree's glorious glow shook her out of her wavering, and the girl turned her back on her helpless friend and departed.

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LOG: complete

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