A Demon and a Ghost walk into a bar...

[Kuzuru]

Perfection.

Perfection was the goal. Every strike and every slash had to be perfect. No movement could be wasted, every maneuver had to have purpose. Renji scowled, striking out for the hundredth time. Ever since Kuzuru had sealed himself away Renji noticed that his strength and precision had been fading. Small incremental amounts, but the flaws were painfully obvious. He was slower and his technique had become sloppy. He was no longer a perfect swordsman and it infuriated him to no end. For the past week Renji had been practicing non-stop on the outskirts of Ambrosia.

　　“Jeeze you’re boring” the soft echoing voice of Wanda sent a shiver down Renji’s spine. The ghost girl had followed him from the haunted forest and now insisted on tormenting him. The translucent blue girl floated upside-down in front of Renji. Her perpetual grin almost seemed to mock him.
　　
　　“Come on, let’s go meet some people” Wanda spoke.
　　
　　“Why?”
　　
　　“All work and no play makes you boring as hell to watch.”
　　
　　“Then go bother somebody else ghost,” he paused to sheath his sword “I don’t have the patience for your antics.”
　　
　　Wanda frowned as the grumpy swordsman turned his back on her incorporeal form. During his foray into the haunted forest he seemed so full of life and energy, but now all he did was wait around a train. She hated his inaction. She hated how utterly dull he was. She hated how he obsessed over training. And yet, yet despite his shortcomings she felt an inexplicable draw to the swordsman. It was only a matter of time before the unstable swordsman exploded and she wanted to have front row seats. His internal drive for self-perfection and the demon’s lust for absolute control were at odds and all that was needed was a catalyst to spark the resulting fallout.
　　
　　Wanda grinned wickedly. Yes, it was just a matter of time.
　　
　　Renji’s cabin was a simple single story building constructed on the edge of Ambrosia. The forest almost swallowed the quaint little cabin and Renji was glad that its remoteness kept the other denizens of Ambrosia away. He had only agreed to protect Ambrosia in the hopes of finding more warriors to slaughter, but the town seemed more intent on reaching amicable agreements with adversaries. The swordsman groaned and sat down on a simple mat in the center of the room. His daily rituals never changed, he would practice swordsmanship for the majority of the morning and before lunch he would retire and meditate. It was a simple existence based upon the idea of self-improvement.
　　
　　The pale blue ghost girl had other plans. She needed to see excitement something to take her mind from the inescapable boredom of living with a swordsman married to his craft. No, another day would not be spent watching an overzealous swordsman clear his mind and sit motionless for hours on end. She floated down in front of the zen-man his perception of the outside world was nonexistent in such a complete state of introspection. Or perhaps he was simply good at ignoring her, whatever the case was he would be lucid very soon. A basin filled with frigid water floated precariously above Renji’s head. With the malice of a preteen prankster the ghost girl willed the basin to spill its contents onto the meditating swordsman.
　　
　　“You little bastard” Renji growled, reaching for his sword in frustration. He went to strike but the poltergeist floated away giggling. She stuck her bright blue tongue out at Renji.
　　
　　Wanda smirked and taunted “strange how you went straight for your sword huh?”
　　
　　The drenched samurai looked away from the ghost girl and sheathed his sword “I was just startled is all.”
　　
　　The ghost girl laughed and floated back down to Renji, bringing herself face-to-face with him. She hung upside-down, but her spectral clothing and hair seemed unaffected by gravity. A guttural groan crawled from her throat and her face contorted into that of a terrifying creature made of fangs and braided tendrils. Renji leaned back in apprehension a sense of dread and doom crawled over his body. She carried on for a few more seconds before breaking into a giggle fit.
　　
　　Her delicate hands covered her perpetually smiling mouth and she whispered “excuse me.”
　　
　　“Why don’t you go bug someone else?”
　　
　　“Because I wanna bother you” she pouted.
　　
　　“Why me?” Renji asked.
　　
　　“Why not?” she snickered before continuing “but, listen if you don’t stop being such a snore I’ll keep throwing water on you.”
　　
　　Being assaulted by possessed water buckets sent a glower on Renji’s face. His feet shuffled slowly towards the door of his cabin. He was a millennial warrior, an immortal swordsman destined for eternal conflict and he was expected to socialize with civilians? Even if they were strange creatures, and most of the were, he had no expectation of camaraderie among fellows. All he had to do was satisfy Wanda’s lust for excitement and he would be free to retire to his hole. Well, he was hungry perhaps stopping at a restaurant would sate Wanda’s desire?