Aruto wandered the forest aimlessly as his gaze wandered the green terrain. It was about mid-afternoon and the sunlight was shining brightly through the bare trees. Aruto smiled at the silence. The peace and quiet was soothing and calming. Suddenly the teenager heard howling, he halted and his expression remained blank as he glanced around the forest. "...?" He kept strolling until the noise became louder. The howling was soon replaced with a high pitched growling. He looked ahead but lowered his gaze to see a white wolf pup showing it's teeth and snarling in anger. His smile turned into a grin as he soon went into a fit of laughter. "I was actually thinking I'd run into a pack of wild dogs or something. You had me fooled for a minute." He approached the wolf pup calmly and it slowly backed up but he picked up his speed and knelled down. "You aren't scary, so you can stop any time now." He smiled and extended his hand towards it. It bit his hand and continued it's growling. "My bad, I guess I was too hasty." He got his hand away from the small canine's grip and watched blood drip from his hand. "You are a nasty little thing aren't you." He looked around. "But alone none the less." 

He picked up the small wolf and began laughing once more. "How the hell are you so chubby." He grinned. "Let's go look around and see if there are any other wolves nearby." He carried the pup but it wiggled out from his grip and leaped onto his head, he tried to get it down but it ended up inside the hood of his sweater. "...I guess you can chill there.." He muttered. The wolf pup began pulling at his hair. "S-Stop that!" He scolded. "God you are annoying too. I'm going to name you Tofu, just like the annoying food I hate." He smirked. I wonder if I'll have to keep him.. If there are no wolf packs around.. then I'm not letting DOS get their hands on it. He thought solemnly to himself as he continued his walk with Tofu in his hood.

"There you go~ Eat up now." a girl with long, goldish brown said as she tossed some bread crumbs out onto the ground. There were only a few birds left in the forest, and they swooped down to peck at the crumbs. Kaede crouched down slowly and reached out to a bluejay with a few crumbs in her hand. The bluejay cocked its head curiously and watched the girl carefully before it hopped into her hand, pecking at the crumbs. Her bright green eyes sparkled with delight and she let out a gasp in awe. The bluejay got full on the crumbs and darted away when it heard a howl. Kaede stood up and looked around to see what it was. She growled lowly to herself and put her hand up to block the sun from blinding her. The girl quickly grabbed her backpack and her shovel that she used to bury people with. It was also her weapon.

No kidding! She used her shovel as a weapon, and she was pretty good with wielding it. Kaede listened to the howling to see if she could figure out what it was. It sounded a lot like a wolf. Was it just one wolf or a whole pack? She ran out into the open and backed up behind a tree nearby, peeking out to see a boy reaching out to a white wolf pup. She leaned in closer and accidentally stepped on a twig, causing it to make a snapping sound. Kaede blushed and hid behind the tree again, peeking out every once in a while to see if the boy noticed. The girl put her hand over her mouth to muffle her gasp when the wolf bit the boy's hand. She swore she knew that boy from somewhere so she tried to get behind a tree that was ahead of the boy to get a better look at him.

Kaede watched him, and she was amazed at how good the boy was with animals. She winced slightly after she felt a sharp pain in her heart when she realized who the boy was. She ran out in front of Aruto and stared at him with blazing green eyes. "Aruto Howling!" Kaede didn't know exactly what she would say next. The boy was supposed to be dead! It's not like she wanted him dead, but she was the one that buried him. "Y-You're... How are you- You're supposed to be dead. I buried you." D-Did I fail at burying the deceased? She gripped her shovel and shook her head, knowing that she was raised by the best gravekeeper out there. There was no way she could've messed up. Only gravekeepers could put the deceased to rest. But, how did this one come back? Maybe she was hallucinating.

He heard an unfamiliar voice call his name and he turned around instantly. Tofu began barking and Aru gave a quick glance at the wolf pup before returning his gaze back to the golden brown haired girl. His expression showed he seemed rather confused. "Do I know you?" He inquired with a raise of his brow. How does she know my name.. He thought. "I was dead. Things happened." He looked at Tofu and smirked. He grabbed the wolf pup and he held the wolf in front of him. The wolf barked and wagged it's tail. He regained a blank expression but then smiled. "Woof." He blinked and titled his head.

This is a distraction, now fall for it. He thought solemnly to himself. He honestly didn't understand this girl's accusations. Buried him? It crossed his mind that maybe when he had died.. he had gotten a burial. He had never really taken the time to think about it before. Had his parents arranged one before they had set out risk their lives in reviving him? It was all a little confusing to him and a bit of a touchy subject. He dared not venture any further with his questions.

"His name is Tofu." The wolf had seemed to of calmed down in the short time he had been with Aru. Then again Aruto had been raised in a house in the forest as a child, surrounded by wildlife. "He's chubby, annoying and likes to pull my hair." He noted aloud, a little bluntly. "He's also kind of a jerk." He grinned slightly.

Kaede looked at Aruto as if he was crazy for not knowing who she was. But, they did meet when he was dead after all. The young girl did not appreciate the attitude she was getting from the teenager boy. Of course, she knew that people died. It was the circle of life for a human to be born and then die later on from old age, illness, or murder. Her big, green eyes widened at the sight of the wolf pup the boy held out in front of him. "Aw! You're so cute!" she squealed and giggled to herself. Kaede took a few steps forward and gazed at the pup in amazement. "Hi there, Mr. Tofu~ My name is Kaede." She looked up at the boy and frowned a little when he called the pup a jerk. Well, he was kind of a jerk to Aruto.

"Oh, no. He's nothing but a big sweetheart!" Kaede jumped slightly and realized what Aruto was doing. He was totally changing the subject on her. How dare he use the power of cuteness on her like that! She laughed nervously and cleared her throat, trying to pull her gaze away from the puppy. "Anyway, you died a year ago... My name is Kaede Akarui, and I'm a gravekeeper. I was sure that I gave you a proper burial that day. I believe that all of the deceased should have a proper burial so they can be at rest."

He grinned when she fell for the bait. "Cute isn't he?" He nodded. "Maybe to other people he isn't a jerk but.." He shrugged. Crap.. She's back on track.. He sighed and let the wolf back into his hood. "Yes, I did." He crossed his arms. He listened to her explain things about the burial. "Oh did you now?" He raised a brow. "Fine, I'll spill." He laughed in defeat. "Sure I died a year ago. It was a murder more or less, in cold blood." He explained, hesitant to bring this subject back up. "I was caught off guard is all. I'm not usually that stupid to let myself be assassinated. A... I guess you could say a very close friend of mine double-crossed me. Once I found out who their parents were everything pretty much escalated quickly from that point on." Aruto put his hands in his pockets and he kicked the ground lightly, yet awkwardly.

"But all that is aside the point, isn't it? You aren't wondering how I died, but how I'm alive. Well that's easy. My parents visited some woman's house deep in another part of the forest. She was able to bring me back to life but according to her it had it's costs. I lived, my parents died." He shrugged once more. "Enough depressing matters." His gaze returned towards the girl. "I can't tell you whether or not you did a good job at the burial, I'm sure you did fine. I don't plan on going back any time soon though. I don't feel like taking a rest right now." He crossed his arms once more with a small sheepish grin. "Hmm.. I guess Lambent would be an important addition to the story.. But then again that's a secrecy I'd rather keep to myself. If anyone got they're hands on her well they'd have too much control over me then I desire anyone to." The student council president yawned.

"Are you satisfied with that answer then? Maybe you can tell me a bit more about yourself. We've apparently met but I don't think I was in any condition for greetings."

The bright girl nodded in agreement that Tofu was indeed very cute. It still bothered her that the boy kept on trying to change the subject. She understood it would be hard on him to think about how he died, but she just wanted to know how he was alive. Kaede gritted her teeth and gripped her shovel tightly. "O-Of course, I did! I'm a gravekeeper." She was touchy whenever somebody questioned her about being a gravekeeper. She blinked curiously at him, wondering what he had to spill. Instead of the boy explaining to her why he was alive, he told her about how he died. Her grip on her shovel loosened a little bit as she listened to the boy tell his story. It was so sad. Nobody should die like that.

But, Kaede had to admit if she were to die, she would want it to be quick like a bullet to the heart so she wouldn't have to be in so much pain. It was kind of like putting an injured animal out of its misery when it knew it could not be saved. "R-Really... I didn't mean to pry." She looked down in shame for digging deeper and deeper into the subject. Maybe Aruto wanted to get it off his chest and brush the past off as if it was nothing to him. It was over and done with, but that didn't mean he wasn't still hurting from the past.

Finally, Aruto got to the point and explained to Kaede why he was alive. Kaede was shocked to hear that Aruto's parents died in order to revive their son. It's not like Aruto asked them to give up their lives for him, but it probably made him feel like he was carrying a burden. Maybe that's because he was. Even so, explaining why he was alive must've brought back some bad memories. "Good! Your parents gave you a second chance at life. You should live your life to its fullest while you still can. I know I would cherish my second chance at life if my parents gave up their lives for me."

It was still very hard for Kaede to talk about her parents. Her mother was a gravekeeper, and she died when Kaede was twelve years old. That was when she had to become a gravekeeper, so she could bury the deceased properly where they could finally be at peace. She didn't know who her father was until she bumped into him not long after her mother died. Her father was mysteriously immortal and wished to die like everyone else. He didn't want to be the last person on earth. Kaede was a cross between a gravekeeper and a human, well, immortal. She had been with her father for two days and didn't even know he was her father. Her father was taken by a band of rogues and they tortured him to death. Kaede didn't know the man was her father until she saw a picture of him with her mother. He described the woman he was looking for to her when they first met. That woman was her mother. Kaede tracked them down and fought the guys to keep her father from getting killed. Unfortunately, it was too late. Kaede was proud to say that her father put up a good and long fight before he died. Guess who buried him? Kaede... "W-Well, there's not really much to know about me. What do you want to know?"