Don't floof the ears [Private]

[Maikeru]

As night fell on the city of Kurosawa, it unexpectedly became loud and more boisterous as the city streets filled with those wanting to unwind, and forget a hard and busy day of menial labor. Students, executives, shinobi, and children all mingled and walked amongst each other. It was part of the reason Maikeru enjoyed night so much. If you ignored the fact that most shinobi operated at night time, it was.. peaceful. It was heartwarming in a sense.

Which did beg the question of why he was sitting alone at the stand of an udon bar, waiting for his first order of beef udon to come. He watched with drooling anticipation as the chef behind the counter cooked and prepared the noodles, beef, and began filling a bowl with the warm broth. His eyes sparkled as he watched the steam rise off of the delicious nectar of a liquid, causing a happy smile to roll onto his face.

Though udon is always better with company, beggars couldn't be choosers. His friends had been unable to join him for the journey, due to life commitments, family, etc. As much as he would appreciate his company, he doubted he would ever run into that nunekin he had met here before. He let out a long, solitary sigh as he stared down at the mask that sat before him on the counter. He didn't know what to make of it, but, it seemed to speak to him. It was as if the mask had it's own meaning and story behind it, though, that was probably just the hunger talking.

Finally, he heard the bell, and the slamming of a bowl in front of him, which drew him from his quiet reverie.

"Order up!" The chef bellowed, before quickly moving to another bowl to prepare. "Enjoy the food young man!"

"Ah!" Maikeru cried in surprise, shaking his head. Just as quickly, he spread two chopsticks apart, and put his hands together. "itadakimasu!"

It was time to eat.

 

[Aurora]

Tea. How long had it been since the kitsune had set foot in this area? For a long time refusing to enter it after the whole Maru deal, she had stayed in Sunagakure trying to deal with the nightmares invading her dreams. For a long time, the Cursed Seal had burned through her veins as it tried to eat away at everything she was. The blood of the main branch of the Aikayume having healing properties and their souls not quite being human due to their ancestry, perhaps Maru had made the wrong choice by marking her. Maybe she had just been spiritually strong enough to resist it. Whichever the actual case was would remain difficult to explain, but the kitsune could no longer stay away from a city just because of a past experience. The mark would nudge her as if to remind her of its presence, like it wanted to tell her she could believe whatever she wanted as some pathetic excuse to hide the truth. She'd merely yawn in response, the kitsune having come to consider it some sort of semi-sentient thing blemishing her skin. Soon enough she'd get rid of it and surpass the discomforting taint, and surpass it. Soon unfortunately had not a distinctly written date.

So in a second attempt to cherish the Village of Tea, Misaki was wearing a soft pink kimono with a couple of hibiscus flowers in darker hues. Her white hair was put up a little with a few more flower pins as adornment, the length of her hair still long enough to eventually fall down and reach the middle of her back. From within the sea of hair strands perked up two equally white fox ears which casually turned to capture the sound of the boisterous city having grown alive during the night. Nothing much of interest by the sound of it but nonetheless enticing the kitsune sufficiently to decide she could do well with a bit of sake and a light sushi dish. Two white tails leisurely hang down, swaying in perfect sync with every of her steps, the sandals clicking softly against the cobblestone street. Red eyes would glance left and right, watching visitors get caught up with street merchants trying to sell a variety of snacks and goodies, but it were the paper lanterns of an udon bar that eventually caught her attention. Noodles instead of sushi? Perhaps. She always found sake to go better with noodles than sushi, but the the bustle of the city made sushi feel too... refined.

Stepping inside the bar, she'd bow slightly as she offered a small habitual prayer of thanks to the kamidana, invoking Inari Okami's blessing for the food offered by the artisans in the kitchen. Then, she'd make her way to an empty table, feeling the sting of the gaping people not quite used to seeing a kitsune already burn in her sides. While she couldn't blame others for staring in disbelieve at a rare appearance, sometimes she wished she could just hide her ears and tails so she could be freed of these rude stares. Yet without complaints she'd sit down and wait for the waitress, who upon arrival had to blink just as much.

"One bottle of sake and ah... one portion of curry udon please.", she'd ask the waitress, who was inclined to nod at first until she spotted the rather youthful appearance of the kitsune. She'd kindly hint at her age, upon which Misaki offered her a smile. Her ear would flick as she'd take out her prayer beads from the Aikayume Temple, the small kamon dangling along with 108 beads symbolising the impure spirits. "I'm a miko of Inari Okami. It would do me no good to avoid sake when she's the matron of rice and sake. I'm willing to bless your building if you would consider it as a gift to the kami instead?"

Seemingly persuaded, or maybe just granting the benefit of doubt, she'd nod and write down the sake as well before she'd leave to place the order. It wouldn't take too long before the sake was brought, and as such the kitsune uttered a brief traditional blessing of benevolence in response.

 

[Midori Futotta]

Maru pointed his gun at a wall to get a good feel when he held the weapon, the arms dealer with his arms folded puffed out smoke from his cigar as he chuckled. “Pretty nice isn't it? What's cool about that baby is that every time you shoot something with it you can heal a little and get some chakra back. Not to mention if you hold it, you're able to shrug off minor injuries. For that and the armor…. 70k!” Looking back at the cheat, his eyes widened. He suddenly had a slight urge to turn the gun to the man… but it wasn't loaded so there was no point. “Shit you know what I could do with 70k?!” The arms dealer puffed smoke in Maru's direction, gesturing his head to the case of weapons, armor, and gear he had. “Probably could get you something cheaper.” He turned his back which was enough time for Maru to pull out a fully loaded revolver, and said goodbye to the gun salesman so he could rob whatever he could get his hands on…

Strolling along the streets of Kurosawa City, he was wearing a usual outfit he wore during the night or perhaps simply because it looked cool. Maru was wearing all black with a stylish cape flowing in behind him, he also donned a black top hat for more style and a white eye mask similar to his well known mask when he usually went about doing his honest work. He was looking around to see if Kaori happened to drop by, so far he haven't seen her around but he knew he'll find where she was eventually. Afterall he could recognize her heartbeat so it wouldn't be hard if he just so happened to find her around. Besides, they were making progress and before he knew it she would be in his loving arms… FOREVER….

Shaking the thought, Maru looked over at his side to see an entrance to a bar. A mischievous smile crept on the masked fool's face, coming up with a plan to make a slashing entrance. He pushed his cape back to show two of his shining new pistols he kept at his side, drawing both his weapons he charged in! Stomping his feet to get people to look his way, the scoundrel held up both guns and opened his mouth. “HELLLLLLOOOOO EVERYONE! THIS IS AN ARMED ROBBERY, HAND OVER YOUR WALLETS, PURSES, AND CLOTHING OR SOMEONE'S GONNA GET IT!” He aimed his weapon at random people. “Bang!" The some people were frightened1, putting there hands up as cowering while there were some that were looking for an opportunity to take the masked bandits down. Maru chuckled, spinning both his weapons in his fingers. “I'm kidding. I'm kidding. What can a guy get to drink around here.” he said, strutting his way through the bar before they decided to kick him out. He stopped when seeing the a girl with pointy ears and two tails….


Lucky Maru could control himself before he decided to just try and pull her ears or even her tail even though he really wanted to touch them. Plus last time he did that, he some people (namely the Hokage and Ziren) took it the wrong way. Its gonna take a lot of self control in order to NOT fluff her ears or her tail but he could at least try.

[Entered Topic \o/]

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

Kaori just couldn't stay away from Tea for whatever reason. The more and more she came back here, the more bad memories started to flood into her mind. It was here that she discovered, that the most important person in her life, had been held prisoner here. It was entirely up to her to break her out of this otherworldly prison and bring her back into the real world; though, things didn't go as heroically as she would have imagined, the end result was the same. But what kept her coming back to Tea for whatever reason? She did mention to the gate-guard that she'd be going to Tea to do medical things, so keeping up the image is what'll keep her in the good-graces of Konoha. Can't piss off an entire village and get away with it; especially not when the village is run by a power-hungry group of individuals -- assuming her assumptions of who was made Hokage was correct.

The sound of a bell could be heard coming from her as she wore a choker with a silver-bell attached to it along with some small metal plates on the bottom of her heels that make a relatively loud clicking noise as she walked. Kaori dressed in her usual flare with a low-cut yukata, many accouterments threaded into her hair and with seemingly, expertly applied make-up to give her a smokey-eyed look and flared out eyelashes to give her that animalistic appearance. The perfume she wore made her smell of peaches. The sound of another bell, the slamming of a bowl, and the statement of 'itadakimasu!' ringing throughout her ears.

It was then that she heard another voice willing to bless the establishment and Kaori just let out a little chuckle. That sounded entertaining, to say the least, and she was quite hungry; though paying the proper amount would seem to be quite the challenge as she can't read how much a certain bill was. The clacking of the prayer-beads brought back a mixture of good and bad memories -- a time where she, herself, was the sacrificial shrine-maiden in Konoha. That's a tale for another time. At this time, Kaori turned to the source of the voices and walked her way towards the restaurant. The silver-bell attached to her throat clanged, giving her a good picture on where she was and where she was to go. She happened to enter the bar after Maru entered, but due to her current affliction, she wouldn't know it was him.

Before entering the bar, she heard a familiar voice ring out, causing her to go into hiding. A little groan came from Kaori as she heard a familiar voice, the voice of someone she thought had perished in Cloud, perform a stick-up. With another pained groan, she stepped out into plain view of the entrance of the Udon shop and pointed her hand in the direction of, what she perceived to be Maru, and shouted. "You piece of shit! I thought you had died and now you're robbing a restaurant? Why not rob something of more value? I guess coming back from the dead never stopped you from NEVER ACTING NORMAL!" Kaori, or rather Mizuho (in this instance) shouted out towards the 'villain'.

And then the declaration of Maru 'just kidding' came to light. Kaori grit her teeth, flicked the bell upon her choker and released a devastating punch to the top of Maru's head, hoping to send him faceplanting into the ground of the bar. "Dead people don't act like that! And neither do normal people! You IMBECILE!" she said before turning to look towards the people of the udon bar and the employees, giving them a little wave. "To make up for the disturbance by this idiot, I'll pay for everyone's food and I do tip well," she stated before reaching out, groping for the bar and moved her feet to feel for one of the stools to take a seat at. She found herself seated next to the kitsune.

Kaori turned in the direction she was seated and tapped the bell upon her choker, then instantly honing in on one of the employees behind the counter. "I'll start off with a water and aomori please, and whatever that idiot wants," she said in reference to Maru. She turned her face to look towards Maikeru and Misaki and offered an apology for Maru's antics.

[Entered -- I was told by Maru that it's cool for me to enter]

 

[Maikeru]

The night seemed to be going well. A full stomach, another bowl of udon on it's way, and the restaurant seemed to be getting more and more full. As Maikeru tapped his fingers onto the bar, waiting rather impatiently for his next bowl of food to come out, he felt a weird sensation in his chest.

'Did.. did my heart just skip a beat?' He thought to himself, placing his hand over and rubbing his chest through his T-shirt. That was.. a weird sensation to say the least.

As he looked to the left, towards the entrance to the door, he found his culprit. There was a gorgeous girl, around his age, who had just entered. He felt his face heat up, and quickly looked away to avoid embarassment. Did.. did she have a fox tail? No, two of them? And.. ears? Was that just a headband? Girls liked to wear weird things like that right?

'Oh god, what do I say? What do I do? Do I introduce myself? No, that's stupid, she just wants to enjoy her meal. But what if she looked at me? Does that mean she wants to talk to me? Should I go to her table and say hi?' The thoughts inside of his head raged on and on, and probably would have kept going, had it not been for one small little thing.

Well, average height things is probably a better descriptor. The masked man that had entered the bar, quickly pulling out his weapons and revealing his intentions to the bar. It was the same moment that Maikeru had his Sharingan activated, and was already molding chakra for a genjutsu, that the problem seemed to resolve itself. A woman, who was evidently blind, had entered behind him, and quickly dispatched of the masked bandito. Maikeru watched the scene with interest, even noting the mans... guns.

"Sensei?" He said aloud, cocking his head to the side. "Why do you look like that? The other mask is so much better, why ditch what was working?"

At this point, he stood from his seat, moving over to kneel in front of his sensei who had been so easily humiliated. As he knelt in front of him, he held his own mask in two fingers, the mask Maru had given him all that time ago when they had met in the tea village, and went on that bounty. He held the mask in front of his face, before donning it, showing Maru his new Persona.

"Deja vu?" He asked, giving Maru the same cocky smile that he had seen Maru give him the first time they met. After a beat, he turned his attention to Kaori. "Oh, hey, you must be his girlfriend. Wow, you are really cute, he's really lucky to have a girl like you."

 

[Aurora]

The waitress was about to enter when suddenly some weirdo barged it in to make a whole lot of noise. Ears flattened in annoyance, Misaki would shift her body to look at the culprit in question, which seemed to look like one hell of a dashing brigand wearing a costume, flashing two guns as he shouted about this being a robbery. Misaki would blink, not sure if he was actually doing so in a crowded place like this or just jesting with a poor sense of humour. Still, not wishing to jump to conclusions just yet she'd wait for things to settle down upon which he revealed he was just joking around. She'd roll her eyes while a strange woman was scolding him with as much noise as the rogue had used. So far for a peaceful evening at a restaurant... Misaki would take her seat again, waiting patiently for the waitress to arrive before a curious gremlin spirit would peek its head through the window. Attracted by the noise, and by the looks of it not up to any good. Misaki's eyes would bore themselves into the spirit, who instantly understood he was spotted and scurried away to find another place to prank.

All the while, her ears would catch the girl stating she'd pay for all the food and drinks to make up for 'this idiot'. She would flop her rear next to Misaki without an invitation, the kitsune yelping in surprise at the aloof approach. Still, disregarding the rude approach since the black-haired woman was about to pay for her meal, she would instead thank her for her offer and proceed to wait for what she had ordered. Her vulpine ears would pick up the word 'sensei', making her glance over again to see a boy about her age talk to the costumed man and reveal a mask of his own. There would be conversation concerning masks in general. Were they jesters? Street artists or something? It was plausible without any more context, though the guns of the man seemed completely out of place if that was the case.

"The three of you know each other?", she'd eventually ask the woman seated next to her.

 

[Midori Futotta]

Although Maru thought that the fake stick-up was pretty funny, a lot of other people didn't think so. As he was about to strut his way to grab a seat, he stopped in his tracks when a woman, seemingly out of nowhere, popped in and began to scream at him. Maru spun around, holding his hands up in an attempt to calm down Mizuho who was pretty upset about his little prank. “It isn't what it looks like, Mizuho. It was just a harmless prank! Common it was pretty funny sugar.” At least to him it was pretty funny, he also had to explain the whole death thing too but it seemed that his future waifu wasn't interested in what he had to say at the moment. In fact, after Maru revealed that this robbery was just a prank she began marching towards the masked villain. "Eep!” He yelped, closing his eyes then began to cringe at what was about to come….

Maru was struck on top of the head pretty hard, sending the masked scoundrel down to land flat upon his face, his fancy top hat now looked like a crushed soda can on his head and his face was slightly red from landing on the floor. He was slightly dazed from the hit, raising his hand after Mizuho finished scolding him while he was on the ground. “Heh…. Dang gurl you must be a Taijustu specialist, because you are a real knockout.” He couldn't help but use this moment for a clever pun. Despite her rather spirited attitude, she DID care if he died otherwise she wouldn't have seemed upset about it. He almost felt bad about dying at the gates having his poor future wife believe that the man of her dreams was gone. But lucky for her, Maru was able to revive himself no sweat.

It took Maru a moment to recover from the blow, he almost thought he was losing it when he saw himself kneeling down asking him why did he ditch the old mask. But he would later realize that the person who was wearing his mask and looked alot like him was… the Uchiha he took on a bounty hunting adventure. He quickly snapped to his feet. “Well I see you're rocking the mask I gave you, I would say you look 10x more better than when I first saw you.” He chuckled, he couldn't help but be proud of himself seeing his student wearing the mask. It was a lot better look, plus he was keeping his legacy alive. “Oh and this is not my girlfriend, she's my fiancé. We've been seeing each other for awhile now, you know put the ol’ charm on her.” He nudged Maikeru.

Maru's attention was turned towards the kitsune girl. “Oh, it's the first time my Mizuho and my student met pretty much. Speaking in which, Mizuho don't worry about paying. I gotcha covered sweet cheeks.” He made kissy faces at her, before noticing the bell choker around her neck. He strolled over to her to slide right next to her, so close that their shoulders were touching. “Sooooooooo♥~ what's new hon?”

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

Kaori face turned into a grimace the moment she heard one of the patrons refer to Maru as 'sensei'. She tapped the silver bell that hung around her throat to get a good picture of what's going on around her. She hadn't really gotten used to her new ability yet, so things still look quite primitive; not able to make out faces or anything descriptive in the least. The only way she'd be able to memorize things, people, and places now was through remembering what things sounded like. She had to click her bell or speak every time she wanted to get a picture of the surroundings; at least she was able to detect the exact locations of things just by hearing any (i mean any) noises coming from it. She continued to hear the boy named Maikeru speak for a moment before promptly ignoring what he had to say for the time being; she didn't want to get in the way of sensei and student -- as goofy and obnoxious as they seem. Kaori ignored the pick-up lines, as usual.

She clicked the bell upon her throat once more and saw something she didn't think she'd see. She saw a girl with animal ears and other animal features. This caused her to open her eyes a bit more in surprise, turning to look towards the kitsune-girl and flashed a smile at her. "Oh my gods! You're so adorable!" she squealed out before clicking the bell once more. She began to chatter with the kitsune-girl for a moment, turning to face her while Maikeru and Maru caught up with one another. She moved her hands over her head, pointed out her index fingers like they were horns. "I had horns, once upon a time. I would've died to get something as adorable as that," she said, opening up her hand to make them look like ears; granted they looked like bunny ears with how she has her hands, but that's just being pedantic.

"Nobody made fun of you for that did you? Anyway, my name is Ka," she said, catching herself. She completely forgot who she had in company. She lowered her hands from her head, flicked the bell upon her throat and let out a big sigh outwards. "For the time being, you can call me Mizuho. What's your name?" she said, flashing off a friendly smile. She clicked the bell once more, getting a lay of the land. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to see the gremlin on the other side of the window as she can't see through windows nor see things through a mirror. Darn limitations on sound. Well, if she used sound to break the windows, it wouldn't be too hard to see; but she isn't Maru so she won't do that.

"Oh? About earlier? Errr," she said as her empty purple eyes darted around for a moment. "Let's just say, I thought that idiot had died in Cloud so that was," she said before lowering her voice so only the kitsune could hear, "my way of saying that I'm glad he's still alive," she said with a nod. Her voice now returned to normal. "But don't tell him I said that, alright?" she said before winking one of her eyes. She wasn't being flirtatious with the sand ninja; it's just how she is.

It was then that girl asked a question and Kaori reeled back for a moment and hooked a thumb to where she believed Maru was, having troubles remembering where he was. "The moron I just clocked a bit ago, I know him. The other one, I don't have a clue," she said before hearing exactly what Maikeru said. She turned her head towards the bar where they'd serve the ramen. "Actually, I'm not paying for this one!" she said as the staff just said "HAI!" simultaneously. That should answer Maikeru's question on whether or not she was his 'girlfriend'.

The two continued to talk about their masks, not that Kaori could see what the masks looked like, let alone any colors or patterns on the masks so this seemed like quite the impertinent conversation to her. She was about to turn her head to go back to talking to the Foxgirl before she heard maru respond to the fox-girl and then call her, under the guise of the name Mizuho (just around Maru), 'Sweet Cheeks'. This caused Kaori to turn her head back towards Maru with the silver bell upon her throat ringing. A look of annoyance was written upon Kaori's face as she rolled her rather-useless eyes.

"Well, ya know," she said before waving her hands out in front of her eyes. Maru, of all people, would notice that there was something different about her eyes. The brilliant color had dulled out. While they were still extremely expressive, something was just off about them.​

 

[Maikeru]

The scene playing out in front of Maikeru was.. strange, to say the least. Between his Sensei acting like some two bit gangster, and his.. fiancee? Girlfriend? Stalking victim? He was unsure what the black haired girl was to him exactly, but, he didn't have a reason to not believe him after all.

"The three of you know each other?"

As the fox girl spoke, he felt that same sensation as before, causing him to swallow at the spit that had begun to gather in his mouth. He looked down to his Sensei who was quickly getting up, and had already begun to make his way over to Kaori, presumably to harass the girl some more.

"Is.. is she talking to me? No no, be cool. She may be pretty, but you can talk to her. You got this, you ca- is this my outside voice? Am I not thinking this?" the level of red that Maikeru's face instantly went would make his Sharingan quite jealous. He coughed into his hand, hoping to whatever god that would listen that no one had heard that outburst from him.

Standing, he moved over to the table that the three of them were sitting at, sitting across from the trio that had squeezed into the opposite end of it. Avoiding eye contact, and keeping his face low to avoid anyone seeing his obvious embarrassment, he let out a calming breath. It was fine, right? There was no way no one heard all of that.
"Ah, yes. I know Maru-Sensei from a previous visit to the tea. I do not, however, know who.. his fiancee is. It is a pleasure to meet both of you, though. I am Uchiha Maikeru, of the leaf."

 

[Aurora]

It suddenly felt way crowded than before. The girl who had came to sit next to Misaki would be named Mizuho. Young, black hair. A natural beauty by the looks of it, with remarkable purple eyes that seemed to have dulled. As if life itself had left them. If she was blind, it was almost impossible to say considering her eyes kept their expressive nature, darting around as she oriented her speech to persons and shifting as she seemingly was about to say something different. Another name? Maybe an old name or title. Either way, it hinted at the girl being more than she let on which was a fun little game in the eyes of the kitsune. The fake robber would slide over to the woman, who seemed to be his fiancé, and along would come the young man as he mumbled something to himself, face turning beet red in the process.

As people moved into new places, Mizuho would tell Misaki she was adorable, telling her she had once horns and asking almost right away if no one made fun of her. Was she to tell being a kitsune was not an easy life in Sunagakure? That though the attention of 'being different' was appreciated, it brought more annoyance with it than anything good? Everyone wanted to pet the ears and the tails like she was some sort of animal. Granted, getting petted was not the worst of attention when the other option was being hunted down for the tails because some make-believe rumours said the tales brought in good luck. Seriously... only the blood of the main branch held Yang-rich chakra! But that was pretty much a secret preserved by the main branch, letting whoever believe what they wanted about the kitsune of Sunagakure.

"Thank you, but no. Most people prefer to fawn all over me rather than to make fun of me", she'd reply to Mizuho with a twinkle in her eyes. "I would have loved to see your horns. Are you disguising them?"

The waitress would bring in the sake Misaki had asked for before, and so she'd pour herself a drink in. Emptying the first cup of sake with a gulp, the student of the fake robber would take place at their table as well. Misaki's eyes would observe him, watching his flushed cheek and the glance in his eyes when he looked at her. As if she had just laid eyes on a diamond and couldn't part without it. She'd smile coyly at him, averting her eyes as she poured in a second cup of sake and listened to him speak. When she heard him mention 'Maru-sensei', she briefly stopped with what she was doing. Lifting her eyes with a hint of worry, she looked at him then at the robber to Mizuho's side. Maru? A shiver would crawl over her back. Was this.... the Maru of Darkness? Involuntarily, her free hand would move to her neck where he had left the Curse Mark behind. But this man looked nothing like the demon puppet she had met. Fate was playing a cruel joke, was it not? Returning her attention to her peer, she'd empty the second cup as if she wanted to drown the nightmare relating to this unfortunate coincidence and nodded as he presented himself as Uchiha Maikeru.

"I'm Misaki Aikayume, of Sunagakure.", she'd say to both Mizuho and Maikeru. "What brings you to Tea? Are you all out on a city trip?"

The waitress would return once again to note down the orders of the new people now sitting at the table, bringing in clean cups and another bottle of sake 'on the house'. After all, a patron intending to pay for everyone's food was deserving of some gratitude. If this sudden turn of luck was related to the kitsune pouring Inari Okami's blessing over the house? One would never know.

---

wc 650

 

[Midori Futotta]

Looking at Maikeru, it would seemed to have taken a liking to the fox girl and to be honest he didn't blame him. And the kitsune seemed to be a bit responsive because she smiled at him so it looked like he gots a chance with the fox girl. Maru decided to move toward his student who seemed to be a little shy about talking to the kitsune girl, with any luck him and his students might end up in a double date. “Psst! You made her smile, you got a kitsune with not just one but TWO tails to smile at you.” Maru said low, nudging Maikeru so he could get moving. “Go talk to her boi, make your sensei proud.” He was a bit confident in Maikeru. After all his last Uchiha student got a little lucky and got called sweet for his little love confession.

After Maikeru said his name, Maru put his hands on his hips to strike a pose. “If you are gonna introduce me to your new companion she might as well know who I am.” He paused before making his very dramatic introduction. “I am the watcher in the shades. From the stars I came, to the stars I shall conquer. Alone I shall stand, alone I shall prosper. Out of darkness I bring light, and always in for a glorious fight. My name is Maru, formerly known as Maru Of Darkness, and currently known as the princess of heart and protector of light. Stealing your hearts and wallets all day and night!” After his introduction, he allowed Maikeru to continue his chat with the kitsune because something caught his eye about Kaori.

There was something off about Kaori though he couldn't quite tell what it was. For starts, this new bell thing around her neck that she had been tapping on was pretty new. But, something that caught his attention was how dull her eyes looked, curious Maru approached Kaori, getting pretty close to close to Kaori's face before pausing just a few inches away from her so he could get a good look at her eyes to make sure he wasn't going crazy. Then it hit him…. “Wait a second… Are you going blind?” Maru realized, beginning to feel a bit stupid for not realizing that she was blind sooner. The gropings around to try and find her table, how she is constantly ringing that bell of hers, it was all making sense now. “What happened? Did you use the sharingan too much? Did someone mess up on your eye surgery? Is there some weird plague in clouds water causing people to go blind?” he asked, trying to figure out how she went blind. Last time he saw her, she could see just fine. Hell she even saw him when he attempted to hop the gate, but now she couldn't see… Lucky for her, he had some blind pickup lines too. “Well…. I guess now you'll be open to going out on a blind date with me. Because you know that they say… love is blind, but you know marriage is a real Eye-opener!” he exclaimed, sitting on top of the counter so he could be next to Kaori despite there being an empty seat next to her.

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

As goofy and strange as that child is, him thinking out-loud with his thoughts on how 'cute' the fox-girl was was quite endearing. It was a cheap ploy to reveal his feelings without actually revealing his feelings. Old tactic that she had heard several times; not surprised if Maru had done that before. Unfortunately, Maru is far-too-direct to take that approach. It wasn't until the boy said that she was Maru's 'fiancee' did it really bother her. She puffed out her cheeks and turned in the direction she thought the fox-tailed girl was, missing the angle by about 10 degrees. "Not engaged; not in any kind of a relationship," she said, having to clear it up. She didn't want people actually believing she was in a relationship with this clown.

She cleared her throat and said to nobody in particular. "I REALLY hope nobody is spreading bullshit about me. It would be a darn shame if Maru ACTUALLY died this time," she said as she waited for someone to take her order. She ordered to Katsu-Udon. At least she hoped they had that; can't read a menu!

The girl spoke to her and Kaori gave her a jealous look. Kaori was tormented as a child for having those horns; called various names like 'demon' and 'monster' and other things. Why couldn't she have been born with cute accessories like that? Hrmph! Luck of the draw! That's fine, Kaori's boobs are bigger than hers (from what she could detect) so just that very thought brought a smile upon her face. Then the realization that this girl was a child and that she could potentially grow into shape. This was a waste of time thinking of. She turned back to look towards the Kitsune girl. "I'm so jealous!" she said putting on a facade. No need to spoil the fun because of Kaori's jealousy.

Kaori just smiled as she introduced herself. "I'm actually here on a resupply mission. There's a lot of good booze here and I don't have the luxury of traveling to and from," she said before pausing, remembering Maru was here. She didn't want to give out her actual destination. "where-ever I go and not have any of good Tea Brew," she said with a chuckle. "And the fashion here isn't bad and the food here is great. Okay, I might just be here for fun," she just got straight to the point.

Then Maru started to talk and Kaori just grumbled. She let him do his spiel, going through all of the pick-up lines and constant sexual harassment from this guy. At least it isn't boring around him. It was then that Maru asked if she was going blind. She turned to the direction of his voice and waved her hand over her face again. "Completely. And I didn't have the Sharingan. I had Hyuuga in me," she said, realizing that could be misconstrued in Maru's dirty mind. Then he made a reference to Cloud's water and grumbled. He knew where she was at. After the silly 'blind-date' joke, she picked up her left hand, pointed a single finger and poked it to where she thought Maru's eyes were, only to prod him in the left cheek. She continued to poke around for his eyes only to miss every time.

"I'll make you go blind if you don't shut up," she said, still trying to poke out his eye. "I'll go drinking with your student if you don't knock it off.
How old is he again?"​

WC: 585
MFT

 

[Maikeru]

Maikeru raised an interested eye as he watched Misaki down not one, but two shots of sake. He had tasted enough of the stuff in his short life to know that it was rather potent, regardless of your tolerance. He didn't need his Sharingan to see that something was clearly bothering her at this table. While his insecurity told him it was himself, his cold logic instead told him the obvious. Maru either did something to this girl, or she had heard the various rumors and stories that floated around about this so called 'prince of thieves'.

He sat quietly as he listened to the rest of the group speak, rolling his eyes slightly at Maru's introduction, and 'flirting' with Kaori. He respect Maru quite a lot, but, it certainly wasn't for the mannerisms he displayed in public. No, he respect Maru because he gave him the time of day, because he cared about the people he taught. It was more than the young Uchiha could say about the vast majority of the higher ups in the leaf. Honestly, if the leading echelon of the leaf was better about fostering the younger generation, Maru probably wouldn't have any sympathy in the leaf. Such is life, he supposed.

"I'm fifteen." He said, answering Kaori's question. "I don't drink all that often either, so, I'd probably be in a stupor by the time you got around to being buzzed."

He gave her a soft smile, not in a flirting manner, just in an acknowledgement of the difference in their life experience. There was a pause when the waitress came back, bringing Maikeru his bowl of steaming noodles. Normally he would dig right in, slurp them up like a mad man with no regard for the decency he displayed. However, there was not one, but two gorgeous women with him. He had a chance to impress one of them, if that smile proved anything.

"As for why I'm here, well, I just felt like taking a trip." he said honestly, using his chopsticks to pick up a group of noodles. "I intended to eat alone, actually, I had no idea any of you would be here. But, food is always better with company, so I'm glad to have run into all of you."

 

[Aurora]

Food would be brought to table, and is happened Misaki asked for a few more empty cups. If these people were to share the table, then they were to share the sake. In honour of Inari Okami, if they so needed an excuse, which the boy before her might need just as much as she did. He looked about her age, after all. The steam which rose from the bowl of curry udon before her would be sniffed deeply, the scent making her mouth water in anticipation. However, her appetite would be cut short when she heard this Maru recite his introduction of who he was. Two words too many would be pronounced. Of Darkness. That he called himself 'formerly known as' was instantly drowned in the overflow of emotions she felt well up. Fear, rage, incertitude and pouting wrath. That he quipped with witty titles and honours wouldn't even be heard at that point.

"You...?", she'd ask, trembling all over in fear and rage alike. "You are the puppet monster who gave me this cursed mark?"

It didn't seem to make sense. The puppet look too different from the masked man that stood before her. The monster disregarding a young kitsune's integrity and destroying the surrounding place with his techniques in the process because he was asked to leave her ears alone didn't tally up to the flirtatious idiot that acted head over heels like a young brat with the blind girl next to her. It confused her, because she was well aware there was no genjutsu at work here - she would have sensed that.

"What are you up to this time?", she'd ask him up front, her foxfire aura visibly colouring as it reacted to her emotions. While her power would be no match to his, even now she held the same vehemence as she had shown two years ago when she kicked his shins in anger once he was taken down by the Hokage and the other shinobi. Unfortunately, though she heard the boy confirming his age and heard the two table companions mention they had gone out for a field trip, their words would not be reacted too as the kitsune was focused on the man named Maru.

 

[Midori Futotta]

Maru chuckled a slightly nervously at Kaori's threat, he knew that she wouldn't actually kill him but he will most likely end up getting seriously hurt. Not to mention his rule about not fighting pretty women or low rank children, so his best chance would be to run like hell. The goal that Maru had was to be well known, but he didn't want to be known as the guy who went around beating up on children or shooting at some pretty lady. Personally it wasn't his style, unlike most people he had standards for who he fought. “Oh common pumpkin pie, you know I was messing around. You know you'll miss me if I was actually gone. Besides, if I was dead I'll haunt you forever and I'll drive away any guy who comes near you.“ he made finger guns towards her even though she couldn't see it. After pointing out that she was blind, it seemed that she was completely blind which was pretty lame but he could accept it. Although she didn't seem to tell him the direct cause of her blindness she did say that she wasn't a Uchiha but from the way she said how she worded how she was a Hyuuga he couldn't help but poke fun at her. “So, like the I had Hyuuga in me as in I'm parts Hyuuga or the I had a Hyuuga in me as in you caught something from a Hyuuga.” He said. He chuckled at her threat of how she'll make him blind if he didn't shut up and she continuously poked him on his cheek. “Oh common you know you like my lines, it's what brightens up your day. Besides…” he pointed his thumb toward Maikeru’s direction. “He’s a bit too young to drink, perhaps some soda or something would be good enough." And just as expected Maikeru he was a little too young to be drinking, poor Kaori must have thought he was a lot older than he sounded like. Lucky for her she had him who was all to willing to fallow her around while her sight was gone. That is what a great husband would do.

After that, he heard the Kitsune who he didn't even recognize up until she mentioned him as 'The Puppet Monster.' Around that time he was a half demon on the looking for ways to become more darker, but since his demonic ancestry was stripped it was quite natural that she would be confused of who he was. "Wait you're THAT kitsune? Well shit, it's a small world isn't it" Maru chuckled, in a way he was sort of glad that she showed up around here. Obviously he didn't intend on the kitsune keeping the curse seal long considering it was a risky scenario of sealing his demonic abilities within her but NOW he had a chance to get back his original abilities with no problem at all. Was his luck good or was his luck good? But first he had to actually get her permission to take his curse back, afterall she didn’t seem to want it anyway. ”I originally stopped by to see if there were any… jobs. Available around here. Also to see if my beautiful Mizuho was around so I could stop by and say ‘Hi’. But i wasn’t expecting to see you any time soon.” He rubbed his chin trying to think of when he last saw the young kitsune. “It’s been like, what? Two years since I sealed you? You know I can UNSEAL you if it’s bothering you that much, truth be told you were supposed to hold onto that until I found you again so how’s about it? I unseal you, I get my dark chakra back. Seems pretty fair if you ask me.” held his hands up as a sign of trust hoping that she would accept his offer.

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

15 and drinks? That's about right, right there. Must be a child of leaf if thy didn't give a damn about the drinking age. Unlike the prudish Cloud children, Leaf children knew when to drink! Mainly to run away from the crappy reality that they lived in under, what she assumed, to be a crappy regime. She didn't notice it earlier, but the clanging of glasses struck her ear and the smell of the sweet drink tickled her nose. She raised her hand to order a round of soju and even some of the finest imported whiskey; Kaori loved alcohol, what can you say? Kaori rang the cat-bell upon her choker to get a bead upon one of the glasses that the kitsune so graciously provided, wrapping her fingers around the glass like an absolute veteran. It was at this time that Maru mentioned haunting Kaori, causing her to turn her head precisely in his direction with a stone-cold look on her face. "Don't forget, I do know how to exorcise demons," she said before slowly turning her attention back to the Kitsune and a smile returning to her face (as if nothing happened).

"Could you pour me a glass?" she asked the kitsune girl. "It's a little hard to see liquids through glass," she commented. The sound she produced bounced directly off glass, making things behind it completely invisible. This included the sake as well as the gremlin outside peeking in. She turned her head towards Maikeru as she waited for someone to pour her a drink. Ever since she became blind, she just drank out of the bottle; which made her look like an even bigger alcoholic. "Drink up too! Drinks are better with other people around and when the timing is good," she said, rather getting a happy-drunk instead of getting pissed-drunk. Her head turned back, like a dysfunctional puppet, towards Maru at his Hyuuga comment. "Have you seen the eyes of the reaper, Maru? I can introduce you," she said for a moment.

As she gave Maru a death-glare and waited for her drink to be poured, her bowl was brought out. A tonkatsu udon bowl. Kaori dropped the deadly-look on Maru and quickly turned to look towards the waitress and requested the chopsticks to be split for her and placed in the bowl, also indicating that she's blind. Upon hearing this information, the waitress scrambled and did so for Kaori before she flashed a big smile at her and gave her thanks. She turned her gaze towards Maru and shrugged her shoulders. "If the boy wants to drink, let him."

It was at this time that she heard a bit of drama coming from the Kitsune girl in reference to 'puppet-monster'. She knew Maru was a puppet not too long ago, so she realized the girl was referencing him. The drama unfolded with Maru willing to unseal her. She let the two go back and forth for a moment until the Kitsune asked what he's been up to. With a groan, Kaori stated. "Probably staring at my boobs right now," she said, lowering her arm as she waited for her drink to be poured. It was at this time that rounds of soju and whiskey appeared, causing her to drop her empty glass and quickly down the soju. She gave a spicy look on her face, trying to keep the fire from the soju in her throat. "Oooo! The soju here is nice and smooth," she said. Certainly tasted much better than Konoha soju.

Kaori picked up her chopsticks and held it in her hands. She wished she could see what her bowl of soup looked like! "I swear Maru, if a Leaf Ninja comes in right now while I'm eating to come beat you up, I'm gonna be pissed," she said as she started to eat her udon. The last time she was in a restaurant with Maru, there was almost a fight. This better not happen this time around! She will be more than willing to betray her 'countrymen' if they interrupt her damn food!​

 

[Aurora]

It felt rather surreal. She was of a mind to burn him, only held back by the nightmares that had played into her mind for weeks when she had first-hand seen the devastating power he held as the demon puppet. He, on the other hand, acted so casually about it. Like he really was a different person all together. Was he still joking around? Was this truly the 'new Maru'? It didn't make sense to her. He really didn't seem to understand how much she hated taint, demonic powers and other of that sort. How prideful she was about remaining pure and balanced compared to him being consumed by his darkness. She shook her head.

"No. No, we can't have that. If you unseal this cursed mark, you'll release the darkness. I've seen what it can do. I was there, remember? It's going to ruin you, ruin Mizuho and your student. It's going to consume everything about that new silly you and plunge everything you are in a world you never had the strength to escape from."

Misaki would sit down again. By now clean drinking cups would have been brought in along with a bottle of soju. She'd pour in some soju for the girl next to her, and the rest of her own sake into the cups of Maik and herself. But she wouldn't drink just yet. The frown on her face as she eyed the drink betrayed her busy mind. She truly couldn't allow him to recover that darkness. Not for his own well-being, and certainly not for that of others. No matter how long it had plagued her, she felt as if it was her duty to keep the cursed seal as it was until she figured out a way to get rid of it. Destroy it to a point where the darkness could never inflict any harm to others.

Making up her mind, she'd empty her third cup of sake before she would speak to Maru again.

"I'll find a way to destroy it, Maru. That way neither you nor yours will ever suffer its pains again. Then perhaps you can build up a good life with those you cherish, for the darkness will never allow you to do so. And you know that..."

---

OOC: Maik asked to post before him this round.

 

[Maikeru]

It seemed that before Maru and Maikeru had crossed paths, the former had been up to some stuff. Well, that wasn't surprising, Maru wasn't exactly known to be the greatest moral compass. His sense of right and wrong was certainly not the reason Maikeru had chosen him as his teacher, that much was evident to anyone who even just looked at the man. No, Maikeru had chosen him because he was the first person to really give a damn about his progression as a shinobi, and treat him as anything more than an Academy Student, to treat him as a person.

Maikeru wasn't a drinker, not at all. But, when offered a glass by a cute girl, who also happened to possess both fox ears and a tail, well.. it's not like he could say no. In fact, he was pretty sure that legally he was required to accept the drink. So, he did. As the liquid passed through his lips, and burned as it went down his throat, he grit his teeth hard and sucked air between them. Yep, he wasn't a drinker.

"That.. um.. that's good.." He choked out, clearing his and running his tongue along the roof of his mouth. "Yea, just.. great.. alcohol."

Nailed it. He put the glass down next to his food and continued listening to the group. He wasn't sure why Maru's girlfriend was so mean to him, but, he guessed having never been in love he couldn't really judge them. It wasn't his place. More importantly, the girl mentioned something about a curse mark, and how Maru had given it to him. While that was interesting, he hadn't thought Maru capable of such a thing, and was more curious why the girl would try to.. purify him?

"Misaki, right?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at the girl. "I understand wanting to make people better, to.. purify them as you said. But, wouldn't it be kinder to let him live the life that makes him happy? If this darkness you had mentioned was hurting Maru then, yea, remove it, but, he seems happy. Much happier than I am, at least. But, don't worry, I'll keep an eye on sensei, make sure he doesn't do anything too bad. If he does, I'll just have to tell his girlfriend, isn't that right sensei?"

He gave Maru a small smile, before eating some more of his Udon. Tonight was going to be nothing if not interesting.

 

[Midori Futotta]

He was slightly ready take the curse seal so he could get his demonic ancestry back, but then of course the young kitsune refused. For one thing, she did see him when he was a bit looney due to the darkness and he did made a few regretful decisions. It would most likely kill his relationship with Mizuho because he would've done something like kidnap her like he originally planned with a couple of girls he thought was pretty or act a lot weirder than he already was. And his student seemed to share that opinion that if he was happier without the darkness than go ahead and purify it so he shrugged. “Alright, you win. I guess I don't actually need it since I'm much cooler now than I was before.” He said, plus with the threat of Maikeru telling Kaori on him over if he did anything, that was enough motivation. “But Aye, I was offering to take it back at least. Can't say I didn't try to help you” he made finger guns at her, deciding to drop the whole reclaiming the darkness thing to go.. For now.

Now that the whole darkness drama died down, Maru began to pay attention to Kaori a bit. She was pretty drunk, even claimed that he was probably staring at her boobs (which he does on a regular.) She mentioned something about leaf nins coming in to beat him up and he chuckled. “Awwe Mizuho, you don't have to worry about that. Oh, by the way that's a nice bell you have around your neck hon.” He moved over to her, not really caring that she was eating to flick the bell once. Then flicked it again.. Then again.. Then non stop. “Nee-He-He this is pretty fun.” He stopped before she got too angry, he raised his hand to get a waitresses attention. “Aye let me have whatever my waifu here just had!” He shouted, waiting for his soju. He hasn't drank so this would be his first time. When his soju came he poured it into his cup, then shrugged and decided to start downing the bottle.

Big mistake. When he took one mouthful he instantly spat it in the waitresses face! “This drink has gone sour!!!” He shouted, the taste was just something awful.

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

Kaori took a sip from her drink as she heard the fox-tailed girl from sand speak. Her eyes darted in the direction of Maru upon hearing what the fox-tailed girl had to say. She turned her face in the direction of Misaki's voice and shrugged his shoulders.
"His darkness isn't that big of a deal. I've dealt with much worse and I've exorcised much worse," she said with a bit of a chuckle. She hooked a hand over to Maru, pointing her thumb at him. "Besides, I can't exorcise him; he's only human. An abnormal one, but he's just human," she said before turning her eyes towards Maru for a moment, a look of disappointment on her face.

A bit of soju was refreshed into her glass by the kitsune and shot it down, tasting the heat from the drink. It usually worked best when mixed with something, but if this is what she has right now, this is what she has. She took reached her hand out for another cup of it. "You won't stop Maru. I mean, I've tried with embarrassing him, insulting him, and other things. And I bet he's still staring at my breasts, isn't he?" she asked, not able to see what Maru's doing.

She turned her eyes towards Maru as he complimented her bell. "These are my new set of eyes, so you better not touch it," she said with a bit of a grumble. Currently, she could just use her voice to 'see' what's going on right now without needing to use the bell. It was then that he flicked her bell. He flicked the bell multiple times before she wound up and slapped him with her palm, straight across the face. At this range and with as much sensory input with the bell constantly ringing, sending information to her brain, she wasn't going to miss. She placed her hand upon her bell to silence it, grabbing it in her hand to calm it down. "You're such an incorrigible asshole," she said, her palm still stinging.

Kaori turned to look towards the front where the sound of the soup boiling could be heard. "He's paying for my food. Thank you, it was delicious," she said as she turned to look towards the others. She smiled at Misaki and nodded her head. "It was nice meeting you," she said before turning to look towards Maikeru. "You need to find yourself a new teacher. See me in 3 years and I'll make an adult out of you," she said unapologetically before turning her eyes towards Maru. She gave him an ice-cold stare for a moment before walking towards the exit, bumping into the wall just next to the door. She released her bell and flicked it to see where she had to go and walked out of the restaurant.

[Topic Left unless stopped]​