Ninjatendo! [Private]

[Kogami Ayumu]

Night was the time that Ayumu had to himself. During the day, he couldn't go an hour without someone or another coming to his office door and asking for something signed. Usually it was much more frequent than that. After he walked out for the day, or more accurately walked up one flight of stairs to his suite above the Raikage's office. This floor was reserved for the living quarters of the current Raikage, which he somehow qualified for. He had moved in shortly after taking the title, just a small move from his last place, which was near the tower anyway. The size, however, was a significant upgrade. It wasn't enormous, but it was more space than a man needed on his own. At least Susumu came to stay from time to time, which was why he had his own room tucked away.

It was a wonderful place to unwind, which was what Ayumu was doing now. In his living room he had a comfortable couch which sat across the room from a decently sized television with a ninjatendo hooked up. Often, he would be gaming into the night. There was a limit to how much he could enjoy it on his own, however. The truth was, there weren't many people Ayumu could invite to take up that second controller. When he was younger, he had a decent number of friends, but as he aged the number dwindled for various reasons. Some had died, a hard facet of any shinobi's life. Others he had slowly lost touch with as he assumed roles of leadership, perhaps because it was harder to be friends with your boss. Then there was, of course, Kahako. She was not lost to him in the traditional sense, but her condition made things more than difficult for the two of them. So, frequently, Ayumu was alone.

He was currently forgetting about the loneliness for a while by engrossing himself in a book whilst laying on the couch. It was a pretty good one, to be fair. It was sort of a fantasy setting where most of the main characters were vying for leadership of their country while ignoring the real looming threat of the undead. One by one, the author seemed to enjoy killing off Ayumu's most beloved characters, but for some reason he remained enthralled with the story. There were even three of these fantasy creatures known as dragons. They were ridiculous and could never be real, of course, but interesting to imagine in written form.

Ayumu was about half way through a chapter and a beer when he heard the knock at his door. It wasn't entirely uncommon for someone to come after he was off. After all, he was the leader of the village. He was never truly off duty. Biting his lip in frustration, Ayumu folded the corner of the page he was on and set the book on his coffee table. He grabbed the open bottle on the table and took a quick swig before standing up and bringing it to his door. Checking through the peep hole he did not expect who he saw. This was a first, Yuii showing up at the door of his suite. He was briefly alarmed that there might be an emergency, but her demeanor didn't suggest terribly much urgency. It was a pleasant surprise given the alternatives to who might have been on the other side.

Ayumu unlocked the door, opening it to his Sennin. This was one of, if not the first time, they had met outside of one of their offices. For once, she would see Ayumu in something other than the same old uniform he wore every day... and might be a bit let down. He was wearing jeans, a white t-shirt, and a light black jacket with the sleeves rolled up a bit. That, and he was barefoot and still holding the bottle loosely between his fingers at his side. Stepping aside, he allowed passage for her to come inside if she wanted to. Fortunately his place wasn't too much of a mess. There wasn't any garbage or dirty dishes lying about, though the jacket from his uniform was lazily thrown over the back of the couch. That and the book on his coffee table along with a game pad he hadn't bothered to put away.

"Hey, Yuii. What's up? Everything okay?"

[MFT]

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

Yuii had intended to tell Ayumu immediately about her run in with Saeko. He was long overdue for a come to Jesus Saito talk about his very poor management of the people clearly out to end his career as Raikage. Normally she wouldn't care what the big wigs did, they could ruin each other's lives all they liked as long as she got paid. Problem was, she was one of them now and Ayumu was all that stood between her and the job with the highest mortality rate in the village. Yuii didn't want to be Raikage, she didn't want to die and she sure as hell didn't want to be raptured by Raiden; so Ayumu needed to shape up. The problem was that when she got back to her office she found her headset was missing. Certain she had left it in her desk drawer, and not wanting -another- official inquiry that week, the main branch sennin spent nearly five hours tearing apart her office to find it. By the last hour, she was almost ready to admit defeat and send out a squad or two to track it down- it had programmed frequencies that could allow the wrong person to do pretty substantial damage to the village when she finally found it. Turned out it was in that drawer all along, behind an ultra sized pack of Big league chew. Lucky thing admitting that she had lost a sensitive piece of equipment made her want to chew on something. By the end of the day, she was so relieved she completely forgot about Saeko, Ayumu and the false plot to overthrow the Raikage.

And Yuii continued to forget until a few days later when she happened to pass the previously unoccupied space of the Main Branch Hand while on her way to fetch a late night coffee for herself. Her gasp of horror could be heard through the entire Legation, though most of her staff had gone home for the night. Which lead to the present moment with a very bedraggled Yuii showing up uninvited and unannounced at Ayumu's living quarters. The incredibly easy to access living area that she had just needed to climb some stairs to arrive at. The place Ayumu answered the door in such casual clothing that she immediately longed for her fleece pyjamas over the awful itchy clothing the Kagetsu clan head kept sending her 'suggestively'.

"Oh hey," she chimed, pulling off her heeled shoe and snapping it in two, "oh no, the stairs broke them." She tossed the offending footwear back the way she had come for good measure then practically shoved her way inside. Her gaze raked over the much, much more modern than she remembered living room then back to Ayumu, then back to the room. Really, he was reading? didn't they read enough all day? Why did people voluntarily look at words all day? There had to be a million better things to do. Beer? Karaoke? Squats? ANYTHING. Her gaze fell on the Ninjatendo and she gave the button a curious push. Wait, why was she up here again?

"I think I've forgotten why I'm here," she laughed sheepishly, "Uhh, hold on, it will come to me. Do you have anything to drink, I'm too sober for today? Do you know, that Donaldo guy is trying to hire the entire main branch to build some stupid wall and he want to pay us in IOUs and 20-year-old spam? I think he's mad! What is Lightning Country and the Daimyo thing letting someone like that make major decisions? He shouldn't even be allowed to pick his breakfast."

 

[Kogami Ayumu]

Ayumu cocked an eyebrow as Yuii removed her shoe and snapped it before tossing it away. "Someone's gonna have to clean that up you know. Not me, but someone," Ayumu commented, stepping aside as she stepped inside without really waiting for an invitation. He closed the door behind her before looking to her with curiosity. She looked around the apartment and then back at Ayumu with a look he could swear was disappointment. He wasn't sure what he had done wrong and she wasn't going to say it. She did seem to take interest in the Ninjatendo, prodding the power button. A red light lit up on the little console, but nothing else happened. The TV wasn't on, after all.

Anticlimactically, Yuii admitted that she had forgotten what reason she had come to his apartment. Ayumu couldn't help but drop his face into his palm for a moment letting out a quiet chuckle. Surely whatever it was must have been somewhat important if she was coming to the Torre during her free time. She asked for a drink before complaining about some annoying politician trying to hire the Main Branch for a ridiculous undertaking and not even having proper funding to do it. Ayumu had heard the name a few times, and never involved with anything good. He doubted Yuii really wanted to talk about some fake tanned weirdo anyway, so he focused on her request instead.

"Do I have something to drink? Hah. Do you have any idea how many bottles of alcohol I've gotten as a gift since becoming Raikage? Job has a couple of perks, despite the paperwork," Ayumu replied, gesturing to a couple of shelves in the kitchen that had been relegated to alcohol storage. There was a surprisingly diverse selection to choose from. Ayumu tilted his head back and finished off the bottle in his hand before stepping into the kitchen and setting it down on the counter. He opened the refrigerator revealing the case from which he had procured the first bottle.

"This too... this was just my gift to myself, though. Take your pick, I'll never go through everything I have by myself without ending up the village drunk. I've started re-gifting bottles recently, even. I keep the good stuff, of course," Ayumu said, waiting for Yuii to make her selection. Whatever she went with, he'd follow suit and get out glasses if necessary. While he was at it, he pressed the power button on the TV remote he'd left on the counter to bring the TV screen to life. Yuii had already turned on the Ninjatendo, so the black screen transitioned to the title screen of the last game Ayumu had played. A peppy tune chirped through the speakers as the eyecatch screen started played showing little 8-bit ninjas running around on a track throwing shuriken and other objects at eachother to slow their opponents down. It was ninja kart, except without karts (because what even are go karts, right?).

"You ever played on one of these?" Ayumu asked curiously, motioning towards the TV.

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

Yuii laughed and shrugged. It wasn't her problem what became of the horrid shoe. It could live on Ayumu's steps until it turned to dust for all she cared so long as it was not longer tormenting her. There would be another pair of shoes once her clan got wind of this one's fate but at least for now she would be comfortable and heel free. Whoever had decided that women's 'professional' fashion needed to be like climbing into an iron maiden each morning deserved to be drawn, quartered and shot twice. In silent protest, she unbuttoned her jacket and tossed it in a heap next to his couch. That awful wool contraption had the itchiest collar and SOMETHING that kept poking her shoulder through the day, so if Yuii was lucky there would be a spilt drink she could use it on later.

Following Ayumu's gesture, Yuii felt her mood immediately improve at the array of bottles. With the excitement of a child in a sweets shop, she took the fast route over Ayumu's couch to the twice blessed shelf of booze. "Woooah, you have all the good stuff, Ayumu!" she exclaimed, bouncing on her toes to read the back labels, "Really good stuff! I think that bottle of Lightning wine could pay my rent for half a year!" This was all kinds of unfair. Nobody was trying to bribe her with delicious alcohol! Then again, who would bother wasting such great stuff on her when Ishiyo was her apparent puppet master. The Kagetsu clan head probably had a thousand bottles of amazing bourbons and wines that she could only imagine the value of.

Normally she would object to drinking what would just eventually just become expensive urine, but it wasn't like these had cost Ayumu anything. He had even said he was giving some away as gifts; one could be hers. It had probably been her birthday by now. "This one, this one is mine," she stated, pulling the bottle free. It had the familiar lightning wine label and besides some extra gold embellishments on the seal, it didn't seem like it could feed a family of four for a year.

"Do you want some or can I skip using a glass?" she inquired while opening drawers until she found a corkscrew. Even his cutlery and chopsticks looked expensive. The decor might be different from what she remembered but Ayumu was definitely not living cheap. She eventually found what she was looking for and glass or no glass she would find her way back to the living area and its very comfortable couch.

Her startled jump betrayed how little Yuii had dealt with televisions. "Not really." she leant in to peer at the blurry little men then laughed as one ran into a freshly dropped pile of caltrops. She'd watched a little TV, but games were expensive and still pretty hard to come by. The places she had watched over were generally not known for being technologically advanced. "Clan policy, no television in the compound except for the old retired shinobi. Something about them being a distraction from training to be the very best? Then I moved in with Kiyo but, well, Hashigaki and I was a student. After that, I was travelling so that was a no go. I guess I could get one now but I'm pretty busy."

She stretched, fumbled open the collar button of her shirt then melted into the deceivingly comfortable couch with all the finesse of her feline companions."Thanks for that, by the way. I just LOVE this job," she shot him a playful glare and took a long sip of her drink. It was, of course, amazing. "So how does the button pad thing work?"

 

[Kogami Ayumu]

Ayumu smirked at Yuii's amazement over the wall of booze, the adult's candy drawer. Admittedly he was pretty proud of it. He hadn't ever intended to build a collection like this, but apparently the people took the Raikage as a heavy drinker with the amount of alcohol he received as gifts. Perhaps it was fortunate that the flow of gifts had reduced as time went on. He might have actually turned into an alcoholic if he got too many more expensive bottles. He watched as she picked out a bottle of Lightning wine. It wasn't the most expensive bottle he had up there by a long shot but it wasn't terribly cheap either. He hadn't really taken Yuii as a wine drinker, but then, he didn't know too terribly much about her except that she liked sweets and traveling. She was kind enough to ask if he wanted any while rummaging through his drawers and he shook his head.

"Seems like you've already grown attached to it. Don't worry, it's not the last one," Ayumu said, walking over to a cabinet in the kitchen and opening it. She seemed content to just use the bottle, so he wasn't going to bother grabbing any glasses. In this particular cabinet there were at least four more bottles of the same wine visible for a moment as Ayumu pulled out two of them and then closed the cabinet. As a local wine, this was one of the more common gifts he received because it was easier for the gift givers to obtain and a quality wine that was well known in Kumogakure. After pausing briefly to turn the TV on Ayumu couldn't help but chuckle at seeing Yuii jump from the sudden noise being emitted from the television.

Ayumu placed one of the bottles on the shelf where Yuii had removed one and then took the other with him to the living room area as Yuii harped on him for making her too busy to even own a television. "That's why you have one installed discretely in the desk of your office. Not... that I have done anything of that sort. Of course," Ayumu said with a nervous chuckle as he popped the cork out of the wine. He tossed the cork over his shoulder dropping it in the sink before sitting down on the couch where he took an indelicate swig of the wine he had grabbed. It was clear why it was a popular wine. He picked up one of the controller and handed it to Yuii, who appeared to be curious and then took the other for himself.

"It's simple enough," Ayumu started, to answer Yuii's inquiry. "This pad here is the direction you want to go. Pretty much just hold up or go left and right the whole time. Hold this button to go forward. This one to stop. This one to use whatever weapon you pick up. The goal is to get to the end and collect the scroll before anybody else does. You'll figure it out pretty quick," Ayumu explained, pointing to each button as he explained it. Moving quickly through the menus he got them set up in 2 player mode and started a race. He took another swig of the wine as the countered started and then they were off.

"Anyway, don't blame me. Blame the council. I was just gonna skip having Sennin, honest," Ayumu said. It was always easiest to just blame the council for everything in his experience. "Besides that, you're doing fine," he assured her as he tossed a kunai at her little shinobi. If he successfully hit her, he'd give a devious snicker and go for the pass.

"Man... growing up in a prestigious clan sounds rough, though. The Kogami clan is pretty small. It's basically just my family. My parents, my little brother. My uncle's family too," Ayumu explained. He groaned as he remembered something. "Since the whole Raikage thing there have been some awkward marriage proposals from other larger clans though. I almost feel a little bad about tricking you and Yoshi that one time now. Almost," he admitted. If there was any true remorse, it was buried under the amusement.

"Has your clan... bothered you for anything? Since becoming the Sennin?" Ayumu asked, curiously. They had some influence in getting a Kagetsu into the position, so it wasn't out of the question that they would try to use her if they could.

[MFT - 745]

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

Yuii nodded as he explained each button and repeated each button to herself as he set up the game. Screens flew by quickly, she simply mashed enter when it prompted her to 'choose a ninja', and suddenly it was counting down. At the final number, she held stole a look at Ayumu's gamepad, realised he meant she needed to hold the forward key down and with a haphazard wobble followed seconds behind.

He had said it was easy, but at the first corner he hit her with a pixelated triangle she assumed was meant to be a Kunai. Surprised, Yuii sat up straight held down the turn button too hard and smashed directly into a wall. She flinched, knowing exactly how horrible that must have felt, and tried to reverse herself out but, having forgotten the back button she mostly skidded against the wall until she had straightened out enough to pick up speed. Ayumu was long gone by then, and her only hope was all the little computer sprites that sped along with him would get a lucky shot. That was alright, though, like anything she just needed to focus on learning the basics first then she could concentrate on mastery, and beating Ayumu, later.

"Sure, blame the council," she lodged her elbow into his side playfully, " If council told you to jump out of the Torre Celeste would you do that too?" she teased while daring to take a drink and only suffering a wobble into the sand. It wasn't Ayumu' fault that he had been taken advantage of as a fledgeling Kage. Council members had no terms, they lived and breathed the village politics and they LOVED to manipulate things to their advantage. Ayumu hadn't really had a chance; he was just lucky that his new Sennin weren't trying to murder him. Well, at least Yuii wasn't. She couldn't really speak for her fellow Sennin but they didn't seem like the murdering types. She wanted to like them, though, so that could be blinding. "What would you have done in replacement of Sennin? Picking pupils for future Raikage had been even more corrupt; that is how Kagetsu, and a number of clans before them, managed to keep ahold of Kage for so very long, you know? Ah, crap!"

The sandy patch she had been running on suddenly gave way to quicksand and her character melted away. Yuii lowered the controller in disbelief, expecting the game to be done with but suddenly she blinked back onto the safety of the pathway. She laughed at the insanity of resurrecting ninjas and mashed down the forward button again. This time she wouldn't try to drink OR take shortcuts.

Ayumu's clan sounded nice. It was more of a family than an actual clan and she guessed it acted like one too. She had more than a hundred cousins she could call blood relatives, at least a dozen aunts and uncles but excluding Kiyo, she couldn't say she was close with any of them or had engaged in an activity generally reserved for family. "I'm an outlier, so my experience isn't the same," she shrugged and stole another drink from her bottle just in time to choke on it when Ayumu brought up the "M" word again.

"It's alright, I'm over that. It was funny," not for her, but her Aunt and the other Kagetsu elders had laughed greatly at her expense. She expected Yoshi had laughed at himself too when he realised what he'd almost said yes to. That was likely why he seemed to have vanished off the side of the planet. She made for another elbow dig because over it didn't mean he didn't deserve one and tried to focus on the game. Ayumu would probably get the scroll soon, depending on how long this game was. She'd never played but it wouldn't be long, right?

Naturally, he was curious about how much her clan was controlling her actions. Yuii couldn't blame Ayumu for taking advantage of her intrusion to find out how deeply she lived in her Aunt's pocket. It wasn't like they knew each other that well, they just got along pretty well when they interacted. It wouldn't hurt to be honest with him, she decided, because if anyone deserved honesty it was the Raikage. "Tiny things, like getting a couple of my cousin's extra missions? I'm usually a bit short on people so there is usually plenty to go around." She felt her cheeks warm up, though she wasn't sure why she felt so embarrassed about that. Yuii would give anyone who asked extra work, so that request wasn't exclusive to them. She just hated to have her integrity questions when even she didn't know how intact it would remain, "My Aunt showed some interest in trying to arrange a proper wife for Yoshi, and you, but with Mister, Handsome doing his best to remain incognito and all that I think she has given up for now. If you're after a wife I have lots of pretty cousins. The assumption was that, well, you wouldn't want one. Be careful about accepting proposals, though, no one wanting to marry you now is doing it out of love."

 

[Kogami Ayumu]

Yuii was absolutely atrocious at the game, which was fair considering she had not apparently ever played a videogame in her life. In her defense, most shinobi hadn’t. Many didn’t even realize that this technology existed nowadays. Ayumu hadn’t had this thing for long, but he had played it pretty regularly whenever he had the chance.

He chose not to answer to her comment about jumping out of the Torre given that he had actually done so before for... reasons. He listened to her reasoning for why running the village without kage wasn’t the best idea and chuckled under his breath. It was funny that she believed he ever actually intended to run the village on his own. He simply nodded. Meanwhile, her attempt to drink and play had rewarded her with a trip into quicksand which prompted her to let go of her controller thinking she had lost. Ayumu laughed out loud as she scrambled to pick it back up when she realized she hadn’t-- yet.

By now Ayumu was ridiculously far ahead. The CPU shinobi weren’t terribly far behind him, but he didn’t much care. He steered his character off to the side of the track and stopped, setting down his controller for a moment and picking up his bottle to take a few swigs as Yuii talked about her clan. She mentioned getting her cousins some extra missions, but there were plenty to go around so that was a non-issue. ”That’s not so bad then. I worried they might try to force you on some other issues. Not that I believe you’d listen,” he said. The larger issue was her aunt attempting to arrange a wife for Ayumu. This one actually caused Ayumu to choke on the wine he had been drinking and go into a coughing fit as he cleared his windpipe.

”After a wife? That would be pretty awkward,” he said, realizing now that the CPUs were right on his tail. He set the bottle down and began to move his character forward again. ”Given the whole son and already having a significant other... thing. Couple that with being the Raikage… Yeah, I wouldn’t worry too much about me accepting any proposals,” he said as he moved his character back onto the track. A little flashing indicator on his half of the screen warned him of his impending doom as a blue shuriken approached him from the rear.

”Ahh, shit!” he cursed, stopping his character to try to let someone else in front of him to take the heat off, but it was too late. The kunai crashed into his character sending him flying into the air and back down as a couple of CPU passed him. Just as he started to pick up speed again, a red kunai slammed into him stopping his progress yet again. ”Oh come on!” he complained in frustration. This was his own fault, naturally, but it still felt unfair. And there, rounding the corner behind him, was Yuii.

”Ack- how did you catch up?!” he asked, though it was obvious why. At least she had made an attempt to keep moving forward while stealing sips. He had outright stopped like a fool. He was still ahead of her by a small margin and would remain so barring any items she might have to stop him, of course. This was the last lap and CPUs had already finished, but this was more important. Now that it was getting serious, Ayumu hunched forward and lowered his head, resting his arms on his knees as he assumed the serious gamer pose.

[Permission to hit Ayumu with a kunai/win if you want. Up to you ]

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

No to proposals, huh? That would be a piece of information that Yuii would be happy to pass along. Her refusal to try and match one of her cousins with Ayumu seemed well justified now, though her aunt would never admit she was wrong. "That's alright," she chimed happily, "They'll figure it out eventually so long as you don't let on that you've gotten lonely. If you do, it's better to get a mistress than a wife." That would make Ayumu easier to look out for too. Enemies were one thing, but a scheming wife was an entirely different kind of evil. The wrong kind of woman could lead Ayumu completely astray. It was terrible to think, but in some ways, he was pretty lucky to have a good excuse to stay single. Relationships caused problems and were generally a weakness. Ayumu already had plenty of those.

Ayumu had stopped to drink, which she wasn't sure was part of the game but how was she to know? That left her enough time to steadily gain back the time she had lost with such a rocky start. The blue haired woman laughed as Ayumu scrambled to pick up speed again after two blows and set off to try and 'win' the game. Although, she wasn't sure how it could be called winning for either of them when the little side screen showed three other little icons having won first, second and third. The tale of the tortoise and the hair came to mind.

Yuii's grin grew as the gap closed, "Perseverance, hard work, determination and now falling off the track!" she laughed again and stole a glance at Ayumu. He seemed really into the game and set on winning. Her fingered hovered over the kunai button but the idea of shooting it gave her an awful feel in her stomach. What if he got mad like she did? She returned it to rest on the side of the controller and let herself cross the line a second after Ayumu. "Ah, oh no. It wasn't enough it the end!" she sighed, not at all upset to have lost her first game. Losing was worth keeping people happy and really, Ayumu should have won. If he hadn't left himself wide open like that, he could have won the whole race. That was just like Ayumu though, leaving himself wide open.

"Hey, Ayumu?" tucking her feet up on the couch, Yuii turned, cocked her hand like a pistol and pretended to shoot at Ayumu's head. It was all slow enough that even had she brought a real gun he could have dodged, but the point was made."Bam, you're dead," with a pensive smile she lowered her hand into her lap. "I remember now why I came running up here. What did you do to Takaki Saeko that she hates you so much?"

 

[Kogami Ayumu]

By some miracle, Ayumu managed to stay ahead of Yuii even as she came so close. It was clear that if she had an item to use, she would have pulled ahead. Of course, Ayumu was a notorious screen looker and could see plainly that she had an item she chose not to use. She had just been too nice to take him out, which was indicative of her overall nature really. Ayumu didn't mind and wouldn't say anything, but he did lose any desire to boast, humbled as he had just been by her near victory. He chuckled, setting his controller down. "Close. You picked up on that faster than I would have expected," he said, taking the opportunity to drink a bit more of the wine. As he began to lower the bottle he turned his head to see her finger gun pointed at his face and cocked an eyebrow.

"Dead? Well, at least I died doing what I loved," he said, setting the bottle on the coffee table. Then there was the name of his arch-nemesis, Saeko. "I see, so she hired you to kill me? Et tu, Yuii?" he said, nodding as if everything was clear now. Fortunately for him, that didn't actually seem to be true since finger guns were a rather ineffective way to assassinate someone. If she was bringing up Saeko's animosity towards him, though, something must have happened. It wasn't in the least bit surprising, given that Saeko took every opportunity to try to take him down a notch.

"What did I do? Hmm. I've been asking myself that for years now," he said in complete honesty. It was something that he wondered fairly often. He did not recall a specific instance that began their feud, only that it seemed that for as long as he knew Saeko they had been at odds. "I honestly don't know. I don't remember a time when it wasn't like this. I knew her father Masao before I knew her. We were friends, and he was something of a mentor to me, at least from my viewpoint. I really didn't meet Saeko until after he died. After... I didn't get there in time to help him. I wonder sometimes if she doesn't blame me for that," he said, remembering the night in Tenouza where they had all almost died, but in the end Masao had been the only one. There was a while where he had grappled with some survivors guilt, believing it was his fault and that Masao might have lived if he had done something differently. Eventually he had come to accept that Masao's decision to pursue Enishi alone was a decision he had made alone to try to protect the rest of them. None of them had ever been given any choice in the matter.

"Something must have happened for you to be asking about this?" Ayumu asked, wondering what it was this time.

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

Yuii's eyes narrowed and the corners of her mouth arched upwards in a mischievous smile. Oh good, he wasn't mad. She brought her 'smoking gun' up and blew on on her finger tips then pretended to holster her hand. "I'll quote that in your biography," she teased, "'Of which I will have no other part in writing because that sounds super booooring." As it stood, she would have a pretty good chance of being forced into the position of Raikage if he died(assuming she wasn't lynched for killing him), getting strong-armed into making a bunch of changes that would benefit her clan, and naming their first choice of Raikage as Main branch Sennin, then stepping down by force. It would all be a nightmare roller coaster ride, but her consolation prize would be dictating one funny quote in Ayumu's history. Bonus points for probably being haunted by his spirit and having to listen to him groan about being assassinated from then into eternity. "Before you bleed out from your head wound die, you should know I took the job for six boxes of strawberry pocky and a giant chocolate bear. I feel I got the better end of the deal." Just to twist the knife.

Saeko was trying to pull down Cloud's leadership over daddy issues then? So that was all? It was dismissive to think, but Yuii had thought Saeko would have a much greater and directly personal reason for wanting to oust Ayumu. Something, like sending her boyfriend into near death situations or running over her puppy? Ayumu was just a potential victim of her poorly processed grief. It was a relief to know Ayumu hadn't knowingly wronged the odd woman, however, because Ayumu being a nice person and likeable leader was one of the key things that made Yuii's new job tolerable. "Oh, That makes sense. It's easier to blame someone then to accept that nothing could have been done," she hummed, tapping on the controller thoughtfully "I'm told that can be hard on people." Not knowing your parents had small advantages it seemed.

Remembering her odd meeting with the even odder Saeko, Yuii squirmed and scratched her neck thoughtfully. How to tell your boss he had the personal security of a baby rabbit and that literally everyone probably wanted him dead? "She was in charge of interviewing me about the Sunuke situation but she kept implying the whole thing was your fault and twisting up everything I said. To be succinct, she said you had been too lenient in punishing me, and that made you a bad Raikage?" It had been a stretch, but Yuii could see council running with it if they were on board with trying to push Ayumu out before he got properly established. At the very least, it would be to their advantage to chip away at his credibility as a leader in order to bolster their own strength. She eyed Ayumu to make certain he seemed properly concerned but would continue either way.

"Then she said something about my becoming Raikage in your place, and I panicked, because who the hell in their right mind even thinks that is a good idea? That's my worst nightmare! So, I told her she was getting in the was of my better-laid plans to tear you from your position and that she needed to behave herself. She ate it up and then things got super weird. She begged, and I mean BEGGED me to let her be my minion after that. She kissed my feet! She said she would be my 'Enishi!" Yuii paused, took a long drink and let that sink in, then dropped the worst of it, "So, I made her my hand, which adds great personal hardship, so you owe me a raise." On top of being Sennin(badly), she was now was stuck keeping Saeko neutralised for then into the unforeseeable future by pretending she was trying to take Ayumu down.

"Anyway, that was awhile ago. I kept forgetting to tell you. Do you have any more completely unchecked, hate-driven and potentially dangerous shinobi left laying around? Because I'm incredibly concerned you're just leaving people available to be manipulated into minions of your eventual and incredibly disastrous downfall?"

 

[Kogami Ayumu]

Ayumu set the controller down, beginning to get the hint that Yuii was actually concerned about this though she wasn't coming out and saying it too directly. He had become accustomed to Saeko, knew her well, and was not surprised in the slightest to hear these things from Yuii. But Yuii was new to this and new to Saeko, believing that she might actually pose a serious threat. Apparently this time she was concocting some scheme to get him removed from his position as Raikage based on the fact that he didn't punish Yuii hard enough. Ayumu smirked and shook his head as he looked up at the ceiling. She was unbelievable.

Ayumu couldn't help but chuckle as Yuii continued, speaking about how she panicked when Saeko suggested that she be made Raikage. He was fully aware of Yuii's lack of enthusiasm for her position as Sennin, so he couldn't see her being too thrilled about being the Raikage. In spectacularly creepy fashion, she asserted herself as Yuii's minion and kissed the poor woman's feet. In response, Yuii had made her the Hand. Ayumu laughed out loud this time.

"Oh my God, and you made her the Hand? That is... hilarious," Ayumu said once he was able to bring his laughter back under control. He took a deep breath, unable to wipe the grin from his face. The alcohol was starting to make him a bit giddy which didn't help.

"I'm sorry, I really should have warned you about Saeko. This has been going on for quite some time. It's back and forth, really. She tries to take me down through various ridiculous roundabout ways that always fail, I send her on particularly annoying missions or give her other annoying tasks. You need not be concerned, she is fully on my radar and she's harmless," Ayumu said, trying to reassure Yuii. He knew that she wasn't privy to their odd relationship, so his reassurance might not be as comforting as he hoped.

"If she ever did become a real threat," he began, his expression suddenly turning eerily stone cold for a moment, "I'd take her out." He took a swig of the wine and when he set it down, his relaxed smile had returned. His face was beginning to flush ever so slightly, though he still was speaking coherently.

"Here's the thing Yuii, council doesn't want me out of the picture. The village has been in turmoil since Shin was killed. First his killer gets elected as the Raikage before she is outed and flees. Then Saito comes in and takes out the previous council for its corruption, taking the seat of Raikage for himself. Then he retires not long after. The village needs its leadership to stabilize, and I think council knows that's possible with me. That's why they raised no opposition to Saito's choosing of me as his successor. I may be new to the seat of Raikage, but I've been leading for many years and I have no intention of abandoning Cloud while it needs me. And I'm not going to be taken out by some devious plot because I wasn't paying attention. It may seem like I'm not, but I am. Trust me," Ayumu explained in a rare spout of sincerity.

"But I do thank you for watching out for me. You can never have too many eyes."

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

The blue haired woman's face turned a deep scarlet as Ayumu laughed. Yuii hadn't wanted a minion, she could barely remember to take care of herself and Haru! She'd even almost forgotten the dark haired woman was going to be Hand until today! But it was done, and for his benefit too, so why was he laughing!? "Maybe you should have," she huffed, crossing her arms like a grumpy child though she was not sure why she was so angry. Maybe it was the fact that she had ended up with an assistant she had to perpetually lie to and babysit, or that her first attempt at doing something useful had ended up being a joke but Yuii really didn't like being laughed at.

It wasn't reassuring at all that he planned to deal with her only when she became a problem. If that was his philosophy as Raikage, she would be seeing him buried within the year! He was leaving an unreliable person to look after someone who hated the very earth he walked. He was like one of those awful manga heroes that believed in people he thought were good no matter how awful their motives. Except this wasn't that kind of story, and his belief wouldn't be powerful enough to run a whole village. Yuii gave an exaggerated sigh and turned away, "Honestly. I guess you would know better. Everyone is new to me." Was it even worth arguing about? Probably not.

"Everyone wants stable days like when Shin was Raikage," she had barely spent any time in Kumogakure after Shin's death, but the village had seemed so sad. Then there had been that woman, and after her, Saito. She had been glad to be doing such low tier work that she didn't need to deal with the Kage at all. Most had high hopes for Ayumu's time as Raikage, they really did need a good Raikage to help the village recover from its recent dark past, but there were always going to be those who wanted things differently. "The thing is... you offend Kagetsu's clan head by existing almost as much as I do. Just be careful and don't be so trusting." Oh, she had worded that wrong, she realised, but it was too late.

At that moment, Yuii's stomach let out a loud growl. She froze then turned red again and laughed, "Do you have anything yummy to eat? I skipped dinner." She peered hopefully back at the kitchen, wondering if Ayumu kept cake.

 

[Kogami Ayumu]

It didn't seem that there was much Ayumu could say to sooth Yuii's fears for him. He wasn't afraid, and was used to being in a position where some people were going to be out to get him. He used to having to look over his shoulder or be able to reach for his sword at a moment's notice. Even now, he knew the exact location of his swords and knew jutsu that would pull them into his hand from across the room if he had need of them. Not that he believed he would need it with Yuii, because he trusted her and he was usually a fairly good judge of character. She was right about one thing, however. The clans were always something he needed to keep an eye on. They had always wanted power, and the fact that he, a clanless schmuck, had somehow landed in the position of Raikage must have been very offensive to them.

"I know. If it makes you feel better, I will try to keep my guard up... moreso than I usually do," Ayumu said. Before he could say much else, the loud cry of Yuii's empty stomach shook the very foundation of the Torre Celeste beneath them. Ayumu's eyes widened in mild alarm at the sudden noise. "Perhaps I have been too careless after all. I've underestimated you, Yuii. From the sounds of it, you've brought some manner of S-class danger beast to take me out!" he said, standing from the couch and taking a few unplanned steps backward (offending nearly empty bottle of wine in hand).

"You'll never take me alive!" he proclaimed, throwing his head back and downing the last of the wine and then clumsily took up his sword which was leaning against the coffee table. The sheath had an attached strap which allowed him to sling it over his shoulder and wear it on his back rather than on his hip as he usually did with his uniform. He set the empty bottle of wine down on the coffee table.

"To answer your question- no. I don't have any food. I don't have time to go grocery shopping these days," Ayumu lamented with a sigh, looking despondent for a second before perking up. "I was just going to order a pizza, but screw that! Let's go out!" he declared, pointing his finger to the window before shaking his head and pointing at the door instead. "Sunuke's been mooching off of you at your apartment, right? Let's go get him and head over to Squints!" Ayumu insisted, starting towards the door without waiting for approval.

"You lead," he added, realizing he had no idea where Yuii's apartment was exactly. Hopefully she was on board with the idea, because he was already opening the door.

[Topic Left w/ Yuii]
[MFT; 466]

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

Yuii wobbled to her feet, her fuzzy mind mistaking Ayumu's joke about her stomach for an actual threat. When her gut made another lengthy plead for food, she realised her mistake and turned a deep red with embarrassment. The normally sloppy and laid back woman didn't know why it was so mortifying to "Eehhhh!?" she cried, covering her stomach with both hands, "N-no it's not! I swear!" As if it knew her fluster, her stomach gave another roar then settled to quiet grumbling.

Pizza? Yuii didn't even like pizza but she could probably eat then of them if they were in front of her. She'd even eat vegetables, and those were like poison. Her face fell as first, as she realised there would be no immediate snacks. What kind of person didn't keep anything to eat in their house? The suggestion of going out appeased her, though, and she nodded her head enthusiastically up until the point he called Sunuke a mooch."That..." she started, wrestling the urge to shout that Sunuke was a guest, a guest she was happy to feed, "...sounds like a fantastic idea."

She'd show him! Sunuke would be up and probably dressed and for sure not lounging on her couch- because she didn't even HAVE a couch. If anything he'd be meditating after some samurai training and waiting for her to get home to have(make) dinner. At least he was more fun than her perpetually moping Aunt.

At his prompt she lead the way out of the tower and towards her apartment with only a brief stop to fetch an extra pair of comfortable shoes from her office. Those heels could rot in the nine hells for eternity.

Oh Raiden, if they went to fetch Sunuke then Ayumu might see her awful apartment. He was definitely going to laugh.

[Topic left, I'll make the new one tomorrow]