"Nice job, sensei," Ryuu chuckled lightly from a tree trunk he'd sat against, balancing on his heels so his uniform did not get dirty on the moist ground. Earlier, he had caught the scent of blood when the breeze picked up, shortly after hearing the howl, and looped back around the lake he sensed in the distance. By the time he'd gotten there, he saw Sakuya going in to attack the monster. No point in telling the elder man all of that though, so instead, he jokingly teased, "Although, if the consolation prize is getting monster sludge under my nails, I am glad you take care of that one -- sir." 

The required formality was added with a bright grin as he stood and pulled out the clean linen cloth he was supposed to use for polishing the silver before he was (gratefully) sidetracked. Closing the distance between them and lifting one of the butler's hands in a swift movement, he began to wipe away the slime as he said in his usual teasing tone - no matter who he spoke to, really - except the mistress, of course, "Can't go addressing the mistress in this condition, you know. Head butler has to always look impeccable. Good thing you asked me to come along after all - that whole feline nature of yours may get the better of you and, next thing you know, the monster blood will have poisoned you in your carelessness."

Dropping the elder man's hand suddenly, he smiled brightly again as he stuffed the rag back in his back pocket and announced, "All clean. I'll leave you to escort the kid back - shadowing is more your style than mine, sir."

With one back hand wave, he zoomed back off. Really, he considered using the excuse of getting lost so he wouldn't have to go polish the silverware. [i]What a drag ... [/i] He thought with a sigh, continuing back towards the house on a path where he wouldn't run across the kid. The smell of blood trailing in the kid's wake was enough to make Ryuu voluntarily sway to the side trail anyway.

[center]*~*~*~*[/center]

Overwhelmed by the pain, smell of his own blood, and fear at his upcoming death had been enough to cause Hiroshi to lose consciousness immediately after his final howl. He had no idea what had occurred in-between the moments were his eyes closed and the world seemingly fell silent to when he felt warmth all around him as he was gently cradled by someone. He had not the strength to move or open his eyes, but he could hear the soft sounds of the leaves dancing to the light breeze, and then a young male's reassuring voice radiating the warmth that he felt from the child's body in his tone. Feeling safe, he immediately fell back into a peaceful state of unconsciousness after a small intake of breath which captivated the clean linen and soap smell surrounding the kid.