Graces of an Inferno[DONE]

Bookwoman stiffened a chuckle and stepped out of the shadows of the small alley. Walking up to a woman, who was carrying a few heavy bags, she bargained with her for a few minutes and picked two of the four bags the woman was carrying. The young woman bowed with a honest smile and walked behind her, towards an unknown place.
Yakate could follow her if he wanted to, or manage on his own. But she had already a place to sleep, take a bath, have a decent haircut and eat.

The lady, of around 40 years old, guided her to an abandoned house that was next to hers. Bookwoman recognized it as a place made with the architecture that was used in the time of Yakate Tsuno. And it was vaguely familiar with her.
"Who was the owner of this house, if I may ask? Since you are willing to let me live here under your good graces." she asked kindly.
"Ah, it's the only house in Suna that people don't dare to trade it. It's said to be haunted by a poisonous cloud that tries to kill all intruders."
Bookwoman blinked.
"Wouldn't that be simply a ridiculous belief from the inhabitants and dust that would give a psychological reaction, leading to symptoms that some kinds of poison can give."
"Well..Maybe, but, the previous owner of the house was Asako Tsuno and her brother, the previous Kage."
And on that, the lady took her bags and entered her house.
"It's clean inside and you can use the water tabs in there. For some reason the building lets me clean it without killing me." Bookwoman heard before the door of her neighbour shut.

...
For some reason, Bookwoman felt annoyance build up in her. Why did this stupid name have to cling at her everywhere she went to?!

Bookwoman had already started taking a shower when her brother finally came 'home'. Her hair was black again and with a frown she looked at it in the mirror. She also looked at the rest of her reflection.
She was thin, pale; the training at the Bookmen clan had worn her out, making her loose all muscles and flesh she had. In fact, she was more bones than anything else. Poking a rib in disgust, she thought for a moment of asking or not her neighbour for some food or go look for a job instead. But laziness had washed over her in this place, a laziness she disliked and thus tried to shrug it off her shoulders.
She grabbed some of the clothes she had found in 'her room' and put them on, letting her old ones soak in water, on the floor of the bathroom. She'd clean them thoroughly later that day.
The picture was again in a pocket, this time under the green vest she had found hanging on a chair. It was as if the inhabitants of the house (yes, Asako Hyosuke and Yakate Tsuno) had left the place without packign anything for a long journey. Well, it wasn't as if she had planned to get kidnapped on her way to meet...who again?

Deep in her thoughts, Bookwoman left the bathroom, fully clothed and stepped inside a random room, that just happened to be the one in which a stark naked Yakate was walking around.
"What the hell?!" she shrieked, slamming the door quickly closed. "Pervert! I knew you were into incest!"

Bookwoman had her arms crossed over her chest and had to raise her chin up to be able to look Yakate directly in the eyes. She was annoyed; wasn't he the one who implied she was his sister? And now that she was actually agreeing with it and slowly, but steadily accepting the fact, he was now playing innocent? And then what? Dragons would become orange instead of blue?
...Well, that would actually be nice, orange was after all her favorite color.
But nevermind that. That Idiotic Rapunzel apparently needed a help for his brain to process the information she was hinting - no, slamming him into his face with very clear words - to him.
"You are so troublesome, Idiotic Rapunzel. "I'm your sister. I remember it. My previous alias was Hyosuke Asako. Is that clear enough for your ping-pong ball sized brain or do you need more explanations?"

And before he could answer, she walked briskly away, running the stairs down, opening the front door, slamming it behind her and went to see their neighbor for some food.
God, how embarassing it was for her as a Bookwoman to admit that she had forgotten something that important as her brother.

Bookwoman came back a few minutes later, a bag in her hand, filled with fruits, bread and some cheese. They had water, so she had refused the milk their neighbor had so kindly offered. She and the Idiotic Rapunzel were young and strong enough to find a job to win their own money and milk.

She almost tripped over the long legs of the ex-Kage who was juggling sand balls, sitting on a chair in the hallway. Bookwoman sighed innerly. There was no way that he would have thought of trying to find a job or anything while she was gone. Well...At least he had clothes on now, which looked clean, in one piece and...slightly too small. He had grown over the years and his pants reached above his ankles and the sleeves mid-way his forearms.
"I got some food. Just fruit, I feel too lazy to cook." was the brisk explanation the young man got for her absence.
And she walked away, still scowling and glaring because of his slow brain and ping-pong sized mind.

Once in the kitchen, Bookwoman dropped the bag on the counter and washed her hands. She had always insisted upon having clean hands before going to eat. It was a habit that she had gotten hard time with pounding into Yakate's manners when he was a kid. And he kept on forgetting it, even as an adult. Instead of learning basic hygiene, he thought it was more interesting to rank her up or to go play outside with sand, letting the paperwork lack off.
Once her hands were dry, she placed them upon the border of the counter and leaned forwards, straightening her arms and leaning heavily on them. Since she had been around Yakate, she had let herself getting attached way too easily and already restored some of the bonds she had with him. She couldn't really snap at him anymore with the same animosity she had before. This was bad, not only she was growing soft, but she was also neglecting her job as a Bookwoman. And what for reply was that? Being too lazy to ask questions and record? Laziness was not accepted in the Bookman's ways.

"...I blame this house for that."

Bookwoman glared at Yakate for disrupting her silent thoughts.
Hunger had escaped her mind and stomach and now she felt like she would throw up if she managed to get a molecule of food inside of it. But showing a weakness was no option and thus she grabbed the food out of Yakate's hands and took a bite on the random desert fruit and bread. She swallowed after barely chewing and threw the uneatable parts of the fruit away.
"Since you had the courtesy of gobbeling up more than half of what I brought back," commented Bookwoman while nodding towards the almost empty bag that contained the sparce provisions of food "you'll have to make sure we've dinner tonight. I'm going to nap. Good day."

And on that, Bookwoman, climbed the stairs up and went to her old room.
When opening the door, she had to be careful not to tumble over the many braille covered scrolls, pencils, erasers, drawings and finally broken pens, torn books and drawings that were covering the floor till the last little mm² was covered. It was as if someone had had a fit before and never bothered to clean up behind him. And even though it was filled with stuff, the room seemed to haven't been inhabited for a long time. It felt rather lonely and melancholic.
Even though Bookwoman remembered where her old room was, she couldn't remember why she would have destroyed her own belongings. And especially belongings that seemed to be valuable, like she kept on clinging to the almost erased drawing that she carried under her shirt.
But, in any case, before she could sleep, apparently, she'd first have to do some cleaning.

Bookwoman spend her napping time turning and tossing in her bed sheets, incapable of closing a single eye. Her mind was screaming to her that she should look and ask around, to learn more about the strange changement of Sunagakure.

The house was silent for roughly an hour; the sun had changed slowly it's position, leaning more and more towards the western wall, moving the shadows along.
Getting rather frustrated with doing nothing and feeling her bed become harder than rock with the minute passing, Bookwoman threw the covers aside and got up. Her room was now rather clean, or at least, the floor was visible. She couldn't say the same about her desk and decided to clear it up. After all, she'd need the writing space soon enough.
So, she settled down and started to sort the papers. Braille documents were sparce, but heavy and thus she placed them on the ground, not even opening them.
Then she found some letters, written by a named "Surpentheon Fanglord" and a person called "Mari" who talked about another Hyosuke. Scoffing, she threw the letters on her bed, not wanting to be bothered with other bonds. Having to settle with Yakate's bond with her was humiliating enough as a Bookwoman.
Next were research books and scrolls, filled with medical annotations, poison recepices and summon descriptions. She'd have to look somewhat deeper into those. After the training with Yakate of course.

Suddenly, something rumbled downstairs. Guessing that Yakate was back, Bookwoman rose from her seat and went to the living room.
Surprised by seeing the old rearrangement of the furniture, she let a soft smile linger on her lips while she leaned on the doorframe, letting herself drift in good old memories of the past.

Bookwoman felt nostalgia wash over her and thus ignored her own smile and walked closer to the younger man. His blond hair was still a long mess and she had an urge to find a brush and make a neat plait out of it. But yeah, she could already guess that he wouldn't like that very much.
...And he smelled. God, how much did he need a bath.
"What's that picture you dropped?" she asked, picking it up. "And I'll cook dinner soon. I just need to know when you're planning to train me again. And when you are finally going to take a shower."

Asako - no, Bookwoman - twitched and sighed.
"I'm ready now. Or do you need dinner first? Idiotic Rapunzel..." she muttered while walking away, towards the hallway, preparing to leave the house or cook in the kitchen.

Bookwoman rolled her eyes and went to the kitchen.
And half an hour later, food was on the table, smelling nicely and filling Yakate's nose with great odors.
"Itadakimasu." said the red head, picking her chopsticks up and filling her mouth with some rice. She didn't even bother calling for her brother, because she knew he would arrive once he'd smell the food and arrive in a rather floating manner.

Bookwoman wanted to throw a spoon full of small ox bones in Yakate's face for having no table manners, but she hadn't the time for that. Nor to properly eat actually. Her Idiotic Rapunzel of a brother had inhaled the food in a matter of minutes, making her compare him to a pig.

Before she could even finish a bowl of rice, she was dragged out of the house, held by a firm grip around her wrist and guided towards the outskirts of the district their house was.
"W-Wait! We didn't even lock the door behind us! A-And where are you taking me?" yelled Bookwoman out, already irritated by having been interrupted in her meal.

When Yakate finally released her, Bookwoman tripped over her own feet, stumbling forwards and managing to catch her balance back right in time.
The sand helped her to balance herself on her toes to fall back on her heels and get a more stable stance.

Before she realized where she was exactly, thick and tall walls made of pure sand rose up, blocking most of the view around her and the sun that was hitting on their heads with it's warmth.
She was sweating again; she really needed red dye soon again. She could imagine how she looked like. Probably like a bad reputated ronin of some sorts. Or worser - like a bandit. Which she was not; she was a member of the Bookmen's clan! She should have ordered the Idiotic Rapunzel to drop her first in front of a grocery shop where they probably sold hair dye. Or paint. Whatever would work.

"Why are you blocking out the sun after having made me sit under it for hours yesterday?" snapped the young woman at her teacher.

Bookwoman, having not expected the sudden rush of sand, tripped backwards and got caught in the soft texture of the sand.
She scrabled up and crouched down to analyze the sand. There was nothing strange with it. Nothing differenced the sand that had moved from the one that hadn't.
Turning to her teacher, she asked:
"How did you do that?"