Practice makes Perfect

[Michi]

The Red Scorpion</COLOR><i></i>​

The Red Scorpion Bar, a small worthless-seeming bar with watered down drinks and the closest thing to live-music the establishment has ever known is the wino at the counter screaming the only drinking song he knows. The barkeep, a large hairless rock of a man, huge even by an Akamichi's standard has always been able to (thankfully) keep this patron's shenanigans at bar with a steel look. Criminals have always flocked to this establishment like moths to a flame. It had nothing to do with his wares but rather the location, in the heart of the Black Bazaar many unscrupulous individuals use this bar as a center of operations. Since the Obsidian was broken into by the Cabal, the bar has been packed wall-to-wall. The densely populated space does not seem to deter the growing crowds that last until morning.

Everything and I mean EVERYTHING comes with a price. From the baubles and trinkets that the merchants sell to allegiances and favors from friends and peers. The Cabal had wrought great destruction on the place she called home; Sunagakure had housed itself in a fragile bubble and once offense met such a delicate balance, the bubble *popped.* It seemed fitting that the worst portions of Sunagakure were the ones that were saved. The Black Bazaar was one such place, where the cretins and degenerates would gather, fester and growth in both numbers and strength like a disease. The malice and greed of this place attracted the Takahashi, she had been here before in what she thought was her lowest state. Unrequited affections were the least of her troubles.

She came here to regenerate. What sympathies and ethics that bound her before were forgotten. These men who would never be missed and if they were it would only be so that a parade would herald the community's gain through their loss. Blood sacrifices would have to be made and the quality made no difference to her.

She told herself that she was doing the community a great service, riding Sunagakure of one wretch at a time. It would not take much to comfort her, she would sleep just fine. Better in fact once they were dead. Order a drink. Walk away with someone... anyone who would order a glass here was hardly better than a mindless beast. Everyone here was a murder, she was not emphatic but their malcontent and Machiavellian intent made the air thick and curled her toes. She carried a similar aura - of hate and wrath. While she bore no insignia of her family, no crest or marking; many of the men bore signs of their affiliation, some even proudly displayed their betrayals. This bar was no secret, but there was strength in numbers and due-process. She was going to eliminate the later. She needed to practice. She needed to remember -how- to be what she was. To take as well as give. Three men have already died by her hand this evening alone, there was time still for a fourth.

Sousuke was alive, but he had been broken by the terrors that had come to pass. She was a different woman as well, not even human. While this was not a change, rather a revelation it altered her perceptions. She accepted the bitter drink that slid across the bare table. It was something fruity, it was the color not that taste that attracted her. As the firewater washed the back of her throat she scanned the bar. She wanted to find the worst of them, she was not seeking alliances but rather ending their miserable existence. It was the Cabal specifically that she had grown to hate, they forced her from her oblivious state to this discontent.

<COLOR color="red">"Get this man a drink," Shiori called to the barkeep.

 

[Randamu Kyarakuta]

He was known everywhere since the Cabal had struck, to some a traitor who would never be seen as anything but the guy who left Sunagakure for some Cabal bitch who killed so many. Little did they know, how many more would have been lost had he not intervened. Many of the criminals in this very bar would know him, most tended to steer clear as they had heard the tales of rampaging through the slums killing gangsters and Cabal sympathizers, and of course they all knew he'd slaughtered his whole clan, it was common knowledge among this particular crowd as it happened on what used to be the old hangout for people such as this in the slums.

They would separate as he entered the bar, deciding to pretend they were busy elsewhere in the place as he walked through. He kept his head down, as once it was raised he would have to face the crowd likely staring him down. Setting up his drunk time shop on the stool at the end of the bar, seating next to him clearing out fast as nobody wanted to be seen with the most criminally criminal to ever crime. The question is, why was he here? It was simple, this was the one place nobody bothered him. Or if they did, the surrounding folk shut them up. ""That's the guy who killed his whole family..." they would mutter under their breaths as if he couldn't hear them. He let them talk though, they didn't understand the sacrifices he made for the village and probably never would.

He should have noticed Shiori in the bar, he could never miss her presence as she was always one to get up in his face about stuff. Last time they had met, he had been set up on a date, one of which he refused to go on and ran away, now here she sat in the bar ordering a drink for a stranger...and he didn't know. She had changed physically so he had no defining characteristic to pull out of his hat to call her out, but he heard her order a man a drink. His eyes lifting from the table to see the odd occurrence, of a female ordering a man a drink. Once she was done, he'd order the moonshine, once his eyes where visible, anyone who knew him could tell the light that was there had faded, he was no longer the happy go lucky vagabond samurai Shiori had once known, he was something darker, emptier. He also didn't have his sword with him, an occurrence almost unheard of. Would she engage him or let him wallow? They had both been through things, and while his things were much more public, she would have a lot of explaining to do about her face change once he found out.

[MFT - WC: 477]

 

[Michi]

Homura entered. She would not have recognized him without hearing his song, for the past two decades she was left with only the darkness. She watched as the crowd parted. Someone mentioned how he betrayed Sand, ran off with some Cabal cunt and how he murdered his clan. Just the kind of man she was looking for. He had a look about him, the kind of look that would make a kitten cry. New target acquired. She smiled half-apologetically to the man she bought a drink for. "So sorry darling, you just are not my type... maybe tomorrow night,"</COLOR><i></i> she purred as she approached Homura. The newly bare but still warm seats would make a greeting simple enough and considering the abrupt hush that accompanied his intrusion she doubted her former date would protest. His untimely fate would be deferred for at least one night.

"Evening," Shiori stated in greeting as she invited herself to take a seat. "I like having my space too," she added as she waved the barkeep a second time. "Whiskey... double,"<i></i> Shiori called. She waited for the barkeep to slide a drink across the counter, likely from a distance. <COLOR color="red">"Heard rumors about you... any of them true?" She queried. She took sick pleasure in getting to know her victims, it made their passing so much easier to mourn. The pedophiles, murderers and scoundrels that congregated here were truly sickening. Their deaths were not entirely in vain, not that it would have been troublesome for society as a whole if it was otherwise. She was learning how to burn something into them, how to make peopledifferent...BETTER even. Not that they deserved her gifts but to learn, trial and error would have to happen somewhere. She almost figured it out, at least how to make someone better. The killing was still an issue, but breaking eggs...

She rested an elbow on the counter and rested her head on it as she looked at him. "I like trouble." She was more than confident she could take on this cabal reject. She would be careful... use protection. Alcohol saves lives, especially high-proof alcohol in his glass and girly fruit drinks with a token drop of the fun stuff for her. He'd be floored long before her even if she drank a real-drink. She was going to lay off the good stuff, the last time she had a decent drink she made out with a cactus. While she might be scar-fre for now, she knew that would eventually change. She just hoped that when it did it would have a better preface than I was plastered when...

 

[Rakujo Yumeko]

As the duo who had entered the village just prior to some event happening, they had kept their safety and made sure not to do much in the way of sticking their necks out. But as time had passed, they figured they would go and check things out. The male, Koji, wore a T-shirt with a long sleeved shirt under it, with tan pants, tattered below the knees and his green hair seemed to be unkempt. While the female, Rina, whose pink hair reached down to the middle of her thighs, and she wore a black dress. The two of them had soon made their way to a bar, in which when they had entered, had noticed a few people in it and stepped in while Rina had moved to the bar and sat down.

Koji had sighed and shook his head before approaching the bar before Rina had spoken to the bartender. "I'll take something fruity." She said, as Koji had soon added in his order. "And I'll take something strong." He said, standing next to Rina, opposite of the two who had been at the bar prior to their arrival. The others in the bar seemed to try to stay away from someone at the bar, but they didn't much care enough to take much notice of it.

Koji looked over at the two before speaking. "Excuse me, but what is the date exactly?" He had asked, considering the two hadn't much been able to keep track of the time between the events that had just happened to the village. Soon after he had spoken, the bartender had arrived with the drinks for both Koji and Rina, and as Koji had waiting for a response and Rina just scanning the rest of the bar, the man would stay standing, leaning against the counter.

 

[Randamu Kyarakuta]

"So sorry darling, you just are not my type... maybe tomorrow night,"

She had lost interest in her target, sexual or otherwise and headed toward him. The reputation he had gained was a double edged sword. He scared off the people who would try to be him, and invited in women who seeked danger, those who liked him because he was a 'bad boy', he assumed she was the later.

"Evening," she stated, welcoming herself to a seat proclaiming her love of space. It's not that he wanted space, it's that it was thrust upon him. He still had a few friends, but they wouldn't admit it these days. She ordered a whiskey, a rather generic drink for a woman who had just drank a fruity something or other. He would sip on his shakely given drink, seemingly un-phased by the intense liquor in his cup. He drank the stuff like it was water, if it wasn't for his intense healing factor, he'd most certainly be dead from some sort of liver damage, specially since the cabal were pushed out.

"Heard rumors about you... any of them true?"

"There's only three certainties in life. Living, passing away, and a having a stiff drink." he tipped his glass up as if to toast himself and downed the glass, slamming it on the table causing the lesser criminals to jump. Sliding it forward and tapping the glass, the sign for fill her back up universally used by bar patrons. His words, if Shiori's ears were still as acute as they were, would instantly recognize Homura's voice.

"I like trouble."

He turned his gaze to her, she lazily resting her head in her hand, false looks of flirtation surrounded her. He knew a con when he saw one, he had lived the experience and been on her side, but what was she after? Another one to reclaim someone lost, using him as a thing to direct their anger at, to blame? He'd play it cool for now, in case he was wrong. "You don't want this kind of trouble."

Some time between their exchange, two people had walked in and ordered drinks. A girl and a boy, one more kempt than the other. Another girl ordering a fruity drink, how mundane. He wouldn't comment on this though as he was trying to leave as small a footprint in this bar as possible.

"Excuse me, but what is the date exactly?"

"Beats me kid, I'm just a wino." he said calmly, sipping on his new drink. It was as pungeant as the last cup, obviously trying to create a barrier of smells and looks to keep people at bay. When they got close, they died or worse...

 

[Michi]

"There's only three certainties in life. Living, passing away, and a having a stiff drink."

She poured her untouched cup of whisky into his glass before the barkeep had a chance to return. Plying a man with drinks, not a common practice. Her ears twitched, did she know this man? Her face flashed a moment of uncertainty as she tried to place the voice with a name but the Cabal had changed him, physically as well as mentally. The Chikara she knew was not this grim, perhaps that was why she did not catch on. How could she, her old acquaintance did not cause such a scene with his mere presence.

"You don't want this kind of trouble."

"That is where you are wrong,"<i></i> she replied as she went along with this bad-guy vibe and reached for his thigh with her hand. She never was the kind to pick-up strange men, until a few days ago was the the "special needs ninja" of the village. If it was not for her 'family connections' she never would have graduated the academy. Her mediocre skills were barely suited for that of a Medic, her missions persisted of barely more than "bring this to him... no questions asked" which allowed her lack of vision to be for once an asset. "I like my men like you like your drinks... hard,"she was taking a strong approach in her flirting. Perhaps it was too strong and she was too obvious. She was new to this black widow crap.

"Excuse me, but what is the date exactly?"

"Beats me kid, I'm just a wino."

Mine! Shiori mouthed. He was her quarry. She wondered what they were doing there and why they would bother with such an innocuous question, nobody shy of Sousuke and Harupa (assumption regarding both) knew who and possibly what she was but something did not sit right. She could not take three at the same time, that would not be a calculated risk. If they were here, they were either one of them or they were like her, baiting a trap for some foolish man (and rarely woman) to step in. "Friday," Shiori answered after a second. She did not want to start any trouble. In fact, she wanted to get him [Homura] out of here as unnoticed as possible.

Shiori waved the barkeep and gestured for another drink, the same as before wordlessly and waited for it to slide across the counter. Whiskey smelled like a barrel of rotted apples, she was more an awamori girl. If he finished his present glass, it would 'magically' refill. "Can't you see that I am trying to get laid?" She would both lie and hiss at them if they made a second inquiry, at this point it was more for show than to actually shoo them away. Either she OR he was their intended target if they persisted with such an inhospitable couple.<i></i>

 

[Rakujo Yumeko]

Koji waited as he had soon listened to the man speak to his question soon after he had asked it, with nothing more than mentioning that he was 'just a wino'. He sighed slightly as he sipped on his drink at the same time that Rina had taken another sip of hers. Though soon after the wino had spoken, the woman had responded with that it was a Friday. "Thank you for the actual answer..." Koji said, before sipping from his drink again, though the woman had spoken with saying that she was trying to get laid.

Koji hadn't expected anything like that at all and had almost choked on his drink, causing himself to cough a few times as he tried to recover from the surprise. "You two were the best to ask considering we've been, more or less, in a hole since we've entered this village from everything that had happened..." Rina said, finishing her drink and motioning to bring her another one.

"Ya'know, I wouldn't turn ya down." He said, coughing slightly afterwards, but then looking at the woman. "So, how about we introduce ourselves now? I'm Hayashi Koji." He said, waiting for Rina to pop in, but wasn't all too shocked when she hadn't and had just finished her drink again. He finished his drink before setting the glass down and motioning to get a refill on his own. Neither of them much cared about someone claiming they were trying to get laid, though Koji would love if that offer got redirected to him, though he knew it wouldn't be happening anytime soon, so he just played with what was said for the time being.

"Don't mind him with half of what he says, he's completely harmless... like a small puppy." Rina spoke, with a small smirk as she took a sip of her drink before setting down and actually looking at the man and the woman with her pink eyes. Koji would sigh as well, setting his drink down on the counter as well as he crossed his arms.

 

[Randamu Kyarakuta]

"That is where you are wrong,"

She rested her hand on his thigh, was it exciting? You bet it was, but the old saying goes, 'if it's too good to be true, it probably is'. He placed his hand on hers, his thigh muscle had tensed as they so often do when you're touched somewhere you're not used to. He downed his drink, sitting the cup down and shifting his eyes, to look into hers. A sadness laid behind them buried.

"I like my men like you like your drinks... hard,"

It felt like a corny line, something you'd see in a porn before the bad techno would kick in and everyone would start removing their clothes. She however, delivered it with such gravitas that it sounded like a half-decent pickup line. "You two were the best to ask considering we've been, more or less, in a hole since we've entered this village from everything that had happened..." The girl spoke, the boy bewildered about the frankness of the woman. "Ya'know, I wouldn't turn ya down." that made Homura crack a smile.

"Looks like you got a taker." he said low, but jokingly, a small glimpse of what he once was, his cheeks a bit flush from the booze. He wouldn't partake in the new cup however, as he knew his limits. One doesn't put their guard down when expecting an ambush at any point in time. The boy again would interject, if the black widow before him was going to strike, he was delaying it and saving Homuras life with every breath he took, a true hero.

"So, how about we introduce ourselves now? I'm Hayashi Koji."

He had no interest in sharing his name, and so he got up, turning to the two that moved like twins, he would set the drink he had in Koji's hand.

"Word of advice, don't give out information nobody asks for, it's how you get into trouble." he said as a piece of realistic advice, adjusting his clothes where Shiori's groping had wrinkled it, and headed toward the door. "I need some air, too much smoke in here." he said aloud, it was more of a thought than a declaration to anyone, and he wasn't going to leave quite yet. The woman was persistent, and he wanted to know why. He fully expected her to follow him, at least outside of the bar he had room to run, fight, or make love, whichever was about to happen.

 

[Michi]

Why did things have to become complicated. This would have been her fourth.. no fifth target since the Kazekage's reemergence. They each went off without a hitch. Most men would have left the bar with her over their shoulder so fast she would have been the one suffering a brief moment of disorientation. He was resistant to her whiles. It was fascinating but more annoying than anything else. She was ready for the long-game if necessary, that was the one thing that had always remained true Mother Suna eventually gets whatever she wants. Time was a commodity for such men, but generations have already passed her by in the blink of an eye. She might have fallen greatly from her height in power, it was a simple eventuality that she would regain everything she had once lost.

"You two were the best to ask considering we've been, more or less, in a hole since we've entered this village from everything that had happened..."

The village had most certainly been the victim of a terrible attack. It was an event that would forever change the lives of everyone involved. "That's true," Shiori nodded nursing, barely touching her drink. Polite. Full sentaces. Either these two are in the absolute worst place or they are on the hunt. Her state was not widely known, even if it was there was little to be gained from harming the cousin of the Kazekage but meager bounties existed during the Cabal's brief reign. She was, quote 'a low priority target' according to the voices she heard. Time and effort were better spent hunting the Sennins and for those who dared the Kazekage himself. She shuddered to think of what her cousin had to actually fight, he was always one to spare her the details but she knew that whoever or whatever actually found him had broken him and prevented him from supporting Sunagakure in its hour of greatest need. "The Cabal sure did keep things... exciting." She searched momentarily for the right word, something neutral to gauge their reactions.

"Ya'know, I wouldn't turn ya down..."

"Looks like you got yourself a taker."

Fuck You! Shiori's face dropped. Was that a pout? What the hell was she doing wrong. She even quote a line from one of Sousuke's books. It always worked in those books. Who knew he read such smut anyways. Of course he might have, but the book she read was actually one she had purchased for him upon asking a shopkeeper for a book her cousin had not yet purchased. While his collection might... or might not have been great, she should have asked the shopkeeper for the name and the genre of her purchase last holiday season. She wanted to toss a glass of fire-water in his face, make a scene. She wouldn't. She needed to be careful. If the rumors were true, some might be liable to exaggerate, she would need to take care in dealing with this Cabal threat. If there was a throw-down here, she did not know who would side with whom and if she was on the losing side no help would arrive."He looks a bit clean cut for my tastes. C'mon, let's have some fun."<i></i> She tried again.

"So, how about we introduce ourselves now? I'm Hayashi Koji."

A pleasant-ish guy getting all up in her game and a douche who is totally ignoring how. Pretty much the way it always is with the 'nice' guy getting ignored more often than not. Being here, nobody was innocent, even the woman who might like to call herself a hero when she was nothing more than a curious sadist who took her cousin's plight as an excuse. Actually neither were getting ignored. Men here were not the civil kind. The fact he was following social convention was more than enough to raise concern. I-I can't believe this HE is turning ME down and passing me off to whoever they are? The nerve of him! How am I supposed to KILL him when I am with THEM! And who takes a girl to meet girls. Dear god of atheists... freaks or hunters? Both? Crap! She had to keep her cool. Her brain was buzzing with thoughts and potential outcomes, all of which concerning. They seemed too civilized to actually be regulars here and something caught her attention a bit late. "Since we've entered this village." If nothing else, they were not from Sunagakure. It is doubtful that the statement would have been phrased similar if they were one of the many broken out of the Obsidian. Even foreign threats were housed there, but the duration of imprisonment was indefinite for a reason. Her target seemed utterly disinterested in them, a similar plight she was experiencing. They probably were not his Cabal peers for that reason alone unless they were working together, it would explain the unchanged beat of her target's heart. But there was usually a tell, something to say that they were communicating. A gesture when her back was turned. Mouthed words. Nothing. Better yet, their attention was on her, not him. Was it her pleasant demeanor? Her willingness to conform to social convention? Probably not. This was not a place for a bored, lonesome tourist. They were dangerous. How dangerous. If they were just bad-guys hanging out with other bad guys on a Friday night; Good guys on the hunt; or something else entirely that she had not yet considered made her wary.

"Word of advice, don't give out information nobody asks for, it's how you get into trouble."

The Cabal member cautioned. Shiori shifted in her seat. He was giving up his drink and preparing to leave. She was not going to let her target get away that easy and suffer the indignity of failure. Should she attack him now, there was too many witnesses and she did not know what side the foreigners were on. The patrons in the bar,most of them were not on his side assuredly but would they be on hers and did she want to be on their side either? She had gotten herself into a dangerous game because nothing was falling into place this time. Her presence was noticed. She should cut her losses and leave now but she knew better, if she walked off now she might not have another chance at someone who was actually with the Cabal. Sure, there was Shouki and that was not nearly as clean as she had hoped either. The Cabal had an interesting skill-set that allowed them to be royal pains in her ass.

"I need some air, too much smoke in here."

Crap, he was leaving. THEY scared him off. Well, either that or they wanted to scare him off because they were on to her. This was not her first trip to this bar today, it was only a matter of time before she got noticed but she thought she would get more than a day. She wanted to follow him. If those two followed her, that would mean that one of them was their target. More than likely her. Could she take on all three? Probably not. Was she going to try -- you betcha. Her pride was threatened and apparently she was a bit more of a light-weight than she remembered. Darn fruity girly drinks! Darn new new liver! Darn wobbly room! I HATE YOU ALL! She braced herself and hopped off her stool, he was not getting away. It was just rude to leave before she had a chance to kill him.

OC: Not going to fight and kill off your NPCs. I am not that rude, if anything a brief T2 if your NPCs follow if they even are bad guys o.o;. Homura is on Skype and cooler than most, you should hit him up. I am all about having fun and throwing character story lines for a loop. Her attempt to kill is basically curse-sealing anyways, she is using the cannon representation where the seal usually kills you. Obviously it does not kill Homura. This was a planned player encounter in terms of "I am going to curse seal you join me" and a lot more fun than the generic "give me your arm stranger. Oh look you are sealed and totally OK." I am interested to see how things fare this time because playing stuff out always gives me an unexpected occurrence. =)

MFT​

 

[Rakujo Yumeko]

The duo listened to the man speak as he had told Koji to not give out information that nobody had asked for, and that it is how one gets into trouble, apparently. The man had soon spoken about he needed some air, and that there was too much smoke in there, after he was given the drink by the man as he stood up and walked out of the bar. He sighed slightly to himself as the woman had responded to what Rina had said. Apparently, either a group or a single person, called the Cabal had done this. "It sounds like... almost any other word would work aside from 'exciting' for what they had done, considering." Koji spoke, before hearing the woman speak about how he looked a bit clean cut for her tastes. Oh, the shut down...

Either way, Koji didn't much expect for his saying that he wouldn't turn her down to go very far. Rina on the other hand continued to smile slightly as she watched the events of Koji having been shut down pretty quickly before speaking herself. "I think that's a record for you. She shot you down near instantly..." She spoke, grabbing her drink, taking a sip of it before Koji had finished his drink quickly after setting the drink the man had given him. "Now when was the last time you tried to pick someone up, huh?" He asked, remembering something that he didn't know was, more or less, incorrect. "That was long before I met up with you..." She said taking a sip of her drink as the woman had soon started to get up from her seat while bracing herself as she made her way out of the bar after the man, seemingly.

Rina stayed seated so that she didn't feel rushed to finish her drink, and Koji had grabbed the drink he had set down that he was handed, drank it quickly and followed the two out. Granted he didn't much think of how the drink would hit him, though it would take a short while to hit him as he was used to a few drinks, though the time they hit him varied on the amount and the strength of them. Though she didn't feel rushed, Rina had finished her drink as she was closed to finishing it for a bit, and payed for her drinks before standing and following the three that had just moved outside. Someone had to watch Koji since no one else was going to. Though as she stood again the building right outside of the door, she would speak to Koji though she didn't know if he would be listening or not but this question had to be asked, at least by her. "Were you like this back in Kirigakure? Because if you were, I can't see how you became a shinobi..."

 

[Randamu Kyarakuta]

"It sounds like... almost any other word would work aside from 'exciting' for what they had done, considering."

He could hear them talking as he neared the door, two people blocking it quickly separating, and he hanging his head at the mention of the cabal. Almost as soon as he stepped out the door there was a collective sigh of relief, everyone going back to business as usual. He wouldn't be able to hear the young girl make fun of the boy for being shot down as the door closed behind him, he immediately making a right into the alleyway and stopping by a trash can, leaning against the wall. It was open and empty, until he reached his hand in to pull out his sword. Why did he leave it there? Cause he never went anywhere without it, and chose to leave it hidden to avoid making a scene. There was something different about the sword, it had two clasps around the hand guard on it that were bolted into the sheath, effectively locking the sword into it. The sheath and handle themselves both unique and decorated as if it belonged to a set of show sword, which was most certainly not the case. He knew she wouldn't be too far behind, and the two behind her. So he'd walk further down the alleyway, so when she rounded it they'd have some distance between each other. When she rounded the corner, she'd see him standing there with his sheath locked sword at his side, the handle wrapped in his hand ready to defend himself.

"You're persistent, what's your angle?" he said keeping his distance, she step toward him and he'd step back.

 

[Michi]

The pair continued to talk, they even made mention of Kirigakure. A place she had never been nor had she any interest in visiting. In her very very long life, she had never existed anywhere besides Wind Country. She did not know why, she never even questioned this fact, but it was as true as the sun and the stars. She remembered hearing a rumor that Kirigakure was hidden under the sea and that the shinobi from Kiri were half fish...half men. They did not smell like fish, this was a good thing. She almost felt bad upon discovering her err in judgement, for assuming the worst; but considering their poor choice in venue who really was to blame? "I should warn you that this is no place for tourists or fish-ninjas, there is nobody here less than an A Rank threat. Get out while you still can," She warned. She did not know the public opinion of Kirigakure nor was she ultimately familiar with the village's fate. "I, on the other hand, have a target and I won't let him get away." Her voice sounded apologetic but she could not continue with the social niceties, that Cabal member was getting away.

He was not hard to find, she did not need to see him to hear him. Her sight was an accessory, she could hear his heels pad the earth and his toes kick at the dust. The sound of his breath as it entered and exited his intact lungs. The churning of his stomach and the steady drum of his heart. They gave form and substance to her quarry. He turned down an allyway, she could see him as clear as in the bar. More so actually, without the distortion of all of that noise.

"You're persistent, what's your angle?"

He called."Killing you in front of witnesses would never do" Shiori answered as she entered the alleyway, slipping on a pair of battle gloves. Her voice had an uncanny nature, how it reverberated as if she was in an empty deep yet narrow cavern. Her song came from behind him despite the source (her) being quite obvious. She admitted it, she was out to get him. Just not in the way he had hoped, but he had most certainly expected. It was true -- when something too good to be possible happens, you are either about to be punked or... well, that is about it. His sword was already drawn, the one thing about him that she recognized. "Chikara's blade... you shitty bastard," Shiori observed. She knew Chikara peripherally, before the circumstances of the Cabal fell through and before the devastating nature of his betrayals marred his heart. Shiori did not know anyone from sight, but rather their voice and their song. His had changed to the point he was unrecognizable He was cold, harsh, emo -- so, pretty much the average ninja, but they not nearly as dangerous. So many shinobi fabricate in their mind a series of events to give them the excuse for a calloused heart, a raspy song. That was not the case here, that was something she knew.

"The Cabal thinks they can do what they want!" Shiori snapped. Her hand was glowing, an ominous red light. She only needed to land a single blow to take him down. Just one. "I already got your friend, Shouki was it? It is a shame you won't live long enough to see him again." Her game was obvious, she was hunting down criminals or at the very least who she saw as a criminal. Her attack, not the best planned. Dark energies flowed through her, far from the celebrated blessing the tomes claimed she had. Her mark scars to the very soul, cursing an entire generation with a power they were never meant to have. It is easy to see why her touch was considered a blessing. She gave the power to quell the storm, the strength of a team of men, even the power to manipulate the elements in unforeseen ways, but everything has a cost... an exchange. Power corrupts the mind and hers rots the soul. Heathen man took her curse gladly, they survived the transition somehow. The only ones who ever had but she would not question this, the progeny of a paragon of human potential would be capable.

Her friend, Chikara was a good drinker and that he was one of the few people that never treated her different because she was an idiot or because she carried with her the Takahashi name. She appreciated that about him, the pit of her stomach made her feel ill as she realized that she did not even notice him gone in the frenzy of this anarchy. She only thought of her cousin Sousuke and her fears for his fate. How could she be so limited!So short-sighted! "You just made my efforts worthwhile." She had a maddened look on her face black markings seemed to emerge from her collar-line. She was able to survive the mark, but she unlike the Sunahoshi was far from human. She lurched forward, her stilettos dug into the ground and then ripped free showering the space immediately behind her in a cloud of dust. Her right leg swept around, attempting to grab Homura behind the knees to take him off his feet, if successful her glowing right hand would try to strike him in the ribs.

Actions (T2):</COLOR></FONTFACE>

• Put on gloves
• Entered Furuuken Stance
• Armed self with Cursed Seal (Your choice,flavored like the cannon where it usually kills you and living is the exception. I expect you to be exceptional.)
• Low sweeping kick
• Attempt to follow-up with a rib shot with the cursed seal, if miss fata morgana augment

<FONTFACE fontface="helvetica"><COLOR color="darkred">

None of these have to hit if you want to play out the fray.

 

[Randamu Kyarakuta]

"Killing you in front of witnesses would never do"

"Figures, the gorgeous ones are always the most deadly."

He knew this was something along this sort, he had done almost the exact same thing to enter the cabal, only he'd succeeded at it. It was all an elaborate plan to get to the bottom of why the cabal where there, an answer he had only gotten in part before the idiots outside his paygrade blew something up thinking they were invincible, oh how he wanted to Nuke after the whole ordeal. Why did he stay though? He had made a promise to his target at her grave, to work within the system to bring honor back to not only his name, but hers as well. The whole ordeal had indeed changed his song, and saddened his heart. He wasn't the happy go lucky samurai anyone once knew that gave ridiculous lady names to his sword anymore, he was an instrument of retribution.

"Chikara's blade... you shitty bastard," she continued on. His eyes shifted into a confused state, how did she know the blades owner? It was obvious up until this point that she was simply after the big bad cabal guy. It would be a role he would be brandished with the rest of his life, however she was talking about his blade as if he didn't own it, but she knew who did.

"Who..."

"The Cabal thinks they can do what they want!"

He didn't get to ask who she was, or how she knew him or his blade. Not many people where privy to the fine details. Most people just saw him as the swordsman, taking the actual weapon into account was never a factor. They could have been dozens of blades between meetings, nobody would really know save a few people, that it was an heirloom of his clan, passed down generation to generation. His mind continued to linger on this as she spouted angrily at him, his heart began to race as he cycled through who it could be in his mind, chakra leaking into his blade as he did to buy him time to figure it out.

"I already got your friend, Shouki was it? It is a shame you won't live long enough to see him again."

"Who?" he had never met Shouki, just Akio, Naganisa, Magnetica, and Urufuu at the end. The dark energies began to flow from the mysterious woman, he and the sword could feel it, it vibrating in his hand. Was it shaking? He could no longer hear it's voice, as he had sealed it within the sheath after the last battle with the cabal, vowing not to kill any more. His own mark shun through, from his right eye. The mark of the Chikara clan, generations and generations of swordsman and ancestors power flowing through him. She rushed forth, very fast, too fast for his body to react. He could see the woman coming, could plot moves and counter moves, but couldn't react physically fast enough to stop her attack, he had one option...

As gravity took hold, and he lost his footing on the ground, he spun so he wouldn't land on his front, choosing to take the hit to the ground on his back. The fist coming down as if in slow motion, everything slowing down for him. Thump, the fist would connect as he reach up with his empty hand, striking the inside of her elbow, bringing his sword hand around and dragging her in close, spattering blood most certainly on her face from his mouth, as his right eye would look into her left one when they were close. A crater sinking into the ground from the force of her punch, she just needed to hold her there long enough, placing the sheath of his sword to her left shoulder, the only place he could get it from their current setup.

"Face the..." he said, one of his popular battle sayings, his voice warping on the last word as the Chikara family name became a dark purple in his eye. "...wind" The chakra he built up in his sheath releasing into her shoulder like a shotgun, if it hit it would most certainly tear a hole in her shoulder and his. It was a common tactic to draw your opponent in and get hurt, in order to do a much more devastating attack for them. After that, his body would go limp giving her freedom of movement assuming she hadn't wormed out already, as he couldn't feel his legs. Her hit, striking him so hard, it broke ribs and cracked his spine with the force. He was lucky she had missed the heart, but it didn't feel that way as he felt the corruption ripping through his body. Letting out a guttural scream, as it hurt more than any broke rib, a dark mist escaping his mouth as he screamed, it enveloping him in the crater she had made, his body disappearing inside it.

 

[Michi]

OC: Half waiting on Isaki Naikishin because he messaged me so I thought he was going to post and half because my shifts were super long. Sorry about the wait man. *hug?*

IC:
To a man such as Chikara, the blade was more prevalent than the man. The man was boisterous, hardy, alive and yet even in the darkness the blade seemed to resonate a song with a legacy of power. That same blade was never apart from Chikara, not once in her infinitely long memory, he would have died before he parted with something that was likely fused to his soul.

"Who..."

He did not even bother to find out who he was killing. How fucking pathetic. Not that she was bothering either, but that was a totally different situation. HE was a KILLER, she was... a life remover? Sounds good enough, the thing that mattered was the fact that it was different and that she was right, he was wrong. She started to spout off who she had already taken, again he answered with the same question of befuddlement again. "Playing dumb won't work with me!" She screamed.

She spun on the axis of her forefoot, her right leg swept close to the ground. It landed behind his knees, she expected him to kneel forward but rather he fell back. It was less adventurous to weaken her own center of balance to land the finishing blow, but delay would have been worse. She leaned forward, attempting to leave the terrible mark in her wake but he struck her arm to the side and the taint met nothing but air. His hilt, free from his belt was behind her. The hilt pressed against her back hard and she was pulled into him as he descended to the ground. His breath was thick, stunk like booze. He let out a cough as the ground impacted his back and shook them both, a spray of blood covered her face and chest. It was hot and sticky, why couldn't he die neat and clean?

"Face the..."...wind"

She tried to pull herself off of him, Chikara's blade holding her in place. She glared at him, she hated the Cabal and what they had done to her. In truth, they has done little to her personally and she did not care for humanity in the way that legends described. Rather, she hated them for being the catalyst for the series of events that allowed her to remember what she was. She was a happy fool but now she had to fight this ever growing sense of disappointment and contempt. This shame she harbored for being what she was and for being so pathetic at what she is.

It felt like someone had placed an explosive charge under her skin and set it off. She let out a scream as the chakra burned her flesh and singed her bone. It was not a small nor a clean wound, burnt along the edges it went through her shoulder blade and left clavicle and back into himself. The pain lasted only a moment before it went dead, she could not feel her left arm. Blood poured from her open wound and down her left side. Her arm useless, but her intended attack still charged. She arched her back, unable to pull herself away without wasting her charge she struck him with the palm of her hand hard in the side of his chest. She could hear the satisfying sound of his ribs cracking and his spine shifting.

She sat upright from the place she was straddling him, her arm over the escape wound as she tried to stave the blood-loss. She could not believe that this asshole almost shot off her arm with Chikara's stolen weapon. Still disoriented because she was not yet in her right mind she started to back away as her mark tainted his soul. The pangs of her 'blessing' as the Sunahoshi would erroneously describe it was more a curse. The human body has an unbridled potential that can be achieved not handed to them, the body's limitations are set only for those of pure will to surpass. A short-cut could provide awesome power, but such a man to survive such an act was uncommon... Nay, an exception of an exception and not likely something to be seen twice.

The pains of death would take him soon as the corruption rots him from the inside out. She groaned painfully while he screamed. A black fog erupted from his maw, something she had not seen before. Her eyes widened as she tried to scurry away. She did not know what it was, but she knew she was not going to touch it. The crater was not that deep she hoped, with one arm she was limited and she needed to leave this crime scene before an ANBU caught wind of the assault that she would certainly claim was an attack but she did not know what story she would formulate to explain the strange markings that covered his body or why she was with him in the first place.

Cursed Seal of Your Choice Given. I am a Dark Sage, so Your Costs are Reduced!.<i></i>​

 

[Randamu Kyarakuta]

Through the horrendous screaming, he lost consciousness. His body still going through the motions, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as the very spirits of his ancestors worked in tandem to fight the dark poison in his body. The mark of his clan, the mystical seal that held all knowledge of him and his clan, was absorbing the energy in rapid pace and it was in turn drip feeding it back into his body, it unable to hold the power fully. He was integrating with the darkness, and it was changing him. A loud crunch could be heard in the now quiet night as his spine snapped back into place, the bones re-forming at a supernatural speed. His ribs cracking back into place and forming tightly together. The shoulder hole closing up as tissue began to renew itself. He had already been a tough guy, one to heal from the deepest of injuries, but this was beyond that. The dark energy surging through his body had allowed him to survive, and while it tore him up, it also rebuilt him. It was as if being filtered through the mark in his eye was giving it a purpose, it's only personality, it's own need to survive, something it can't do in such a weak host.

A smash would be heard from behind Shiori if she'd turned to walk away. It was the sound of his sword sticking into the ground. He wasn't the only casualty, as the sword itself had taken a more grotesque shape, a purple flesh enveloping the sheath, razor sharp spikes jotting from the hilt and a big eye in the middle, twitching and rotating until it saw Shiori, locking in on her and staying there. Attached to the sword, was Homura's hand, a thin layer of dark chakra covering his hand and filtering into the sword. His body hadn't changed, though the hole wear his shoulder was, had been healed. He was filled to the brim with power, his body couldn't contain it. His eyes where white, still rolled into the back of his head and his body heaving from the shoulders, and a series of black lines across his face steming from his family crest shining brightly in his eye, leading down his neck, what looked at a distance like lines up close would reveal they were thin thorns, the body itself taking in deep breaths as an almost dual voice spoke, his normal voice with an undertone of a females voice, raspy like Scarlet Johansen.

"You will not drive the Chikara extinct" he said, most certainly not in his own mind. As he said this, he would breath out heavily, a dark mist leaking out of his mouth like before. The power was just falling off of him, the rituals he went through to become the warrior he was today was saving his life. His body, on auto-pilot, or maybe piloted by the sword and it's personality, would raise the darkly formed sword above his head.

"KUROGANE" he called his swords name, it wasn't one shiori had heard before, because it was the swords true name. He always gave it some faux name, usually a womans, cause it bugged the sword and he was a big troll. However, some time during the cabal incursion he had learned the true power it held, and could call on it by its name. He hadn't drawn out it's full strength yet, but there would be time for that once the woman was struck down. The energy he had been storing in the sword would begin to swirl around it, the shape it took fading ever so slightly as he swung the blade down, a huge gust of dark wind flying through the alleyway, a scar on the wind, a wind scar some might say.

[Choosing Solar Seal]

 

[Michi]

Short post is short

This will take some explanation. She took in a breath through gritted teeth and walked away. She could 'see' his writhing in the presence of the veil. That seal would twist and contort him until he was a husk. It could take hours, even days with stronger men. She was not going to wait for the spectacle to complete, soon enough he would garner an audience if he could hold out. She did not anticipate a long death, but she hoped for one. She heard the first snap, she knew the sound of a set bone. Her eyes widened, this was not right. This was not what was supposed to happen. She backed away, she could see the change despite the fog. Her heart hastened and her instinct was to run.

Her blood escaped her wound like rivers of crimson sand where the chakra had not cauterized the tunnel through her arm. It escaped from between her fingers that started to glow as she attempted to make her escape. The numerous blood vessels and the gap where ligaments and tendons were severed started to reform, but not at the rate of the Cabal member. She needed to get some distance, to mend this wound and to remain out of melee if she hoped to survive. Her pace hastened as her heels broke the firmly packed earth and stone.

"You will not drive the Chikara extinct"

"KUROGANE"

With that bellowing cry, a blast of wind escaped his weapon and bisected the alleyway. Her mind raced as she considered her options. She was incapable of ninjutsu in this state, that left her only with taijutsu and genjutsu. She attempted to punch the windscar with her fist, she missed the blast of wind and was sent reeling back. "How the fuck did you survive? She spat a mouthful of red grit onto the ground. Her wound was closing, but it was still wide enough that light could be seen through her collar. Her left arm remained limp, her nerves still severed. Through her cracked and bleeding lips she started to of all things sing.

Nocturne of Shadow​

<i></i>

 

[Randamu Kyarakuta]

She was healing to, not nearly as fast and could possibly never connect the right nerves in his arm before it was too late. As she flew back he stepped out of the crater, his sword dragging along the ground as he walked toward her, the sharpness of the darkness creating a divot in the ground behind him as he walked. She seemed unnerved at his presence, as if the tainted blow was suppose to stop him and not change him into what she saw before her.

"How the fuck did you survive?

"Our name is Chikara Homura, and for months we spent it infiltrating the cabal, sacrificing much that was of importance to us. We needed to become someone else, something else." he said in his dual tone, the sword obviously doing most of the talking as it appeared that Homura may have checked out even before the second assault, and was more or less asleep. He lifted his sword again into the air, but began to hear a melody escaping the devil womans lips, a fine song that caught him off guard. He dropped the sword to his side, it sticking into the ground and he taking a knee at the same time. Dark wind chakra would fly off the sword and him in every direction, creating some sort of air bubble of hurtfulness that was lashing out around him. It was more for defensive purposes than anything, if you can't see what you're fighting, might as well defend the avenues of attack you can.

"Shiori would hate what I've become..."

His own voice poked through a moment there but it was low, and hard to hear through the wind whipping around, unless you had some sort of hearing power or something. It was true, he had thought about her quite a lot during his time with the cabal, wondering where she was and how she was doing. Things like if she got out of the village alive, and if she was drinking any good alcohol. She was a good friend, he would lie if he said he didn't crush on her quite often, even when she was trying to hook him up with random bar folk, At any rate, he didn't know the entity before him was her, she had changed too into an unrecognizable person herself, perhaps they'd find each other in all this mess. At the moment however, he was somewhat blind and perhaps that is what brought him to the surface, that feeling of darkness around him felt almost like sleep, and perhaps he had just talked in his.

"We can't let you kill us, cabal or not. We need to protect the last Chikara until he is old enough to kill us himself, as penance for what we've done" the sword once again spoke, as Homuras body closed it's eyes. Standing up, eyes closed, the wind barrier would explode outward and dissipate, the family seal still shining bright through his eyelid. She had known what it was to be blind, she might even catch on to what he was doing, concentrating to get any extra-sensory wiff of where she was. He however, had a sixth sense, not in his mind, but in his weapon. It hungered for blood, it could hone in on the very life fluid running through someone. It however, wasn't totally an accurate sense, he got a location that in his mind eye is like a hitbox in a video game. It was like a big box encompassing the area she was in, and if he hit it, it'd do damage to her, though unlike a hitbox, she actually only takes damage if you hit her. As such, and almost as if on cue, the darkness that had transformed the blade exploded off the sword, revealing it still sheathed but the runes and seals he had used to contain the sword had been burned off by the energy. He slid a leg back and got a firm grip on the ground, taking a fighting stance known all to well to Shiori, as he had most certainly used it in the work environment. He drew the sword slowly, and defensively before putting it between his fingers on his other hand, as if looking down the sights of a gun.

Without word or tell, he would dash forward and straight thrust at the center of the hitbox that was where she had been sensed. It could be dodged if she had the energy and speed to do so, which she had exhibited before in taking him down or he could just downright miss. It would allow him to fly to the other side of the alleyway and stop, like two samurai running at each other with swords. At the end, he would sheath the sword and with the click of the hilt hitting the sheath, it would either explode a wound into a surrounding building or open a wound in her, as if he'd mixed a myriad strike with a temporized slash. Either way damage to something was done.

 

[Michi]

The melody pervaded the air, as night was given new meaning. She allowed herself to be swallowed by the darkness, her eyes scanning the battlefield in front of her. She had miscalculated, failed to anticipate the series of outcomes that were now laid out before her. There was a time that she would have been prepared for this, a time when she would have made another choice. But how could she have anticipated such fortitude, such a force of will and stamina? Perhaps she would not have, but she would have realized better the dilemma she was now faced with. She had already shown her cards, demonstrated her stance and in a great lapse of judgement increased rather than diminished the force of her foe.

"Our name is Chikara Homura, and for months we spent it infiltrating the cabal, sacrificing much that was of importance to us. We needed to become someone else, something else."

She knew that name, Homura specifically. It belonged to her brother-ancient, Lord of the Flame Court. A patron to some who saw him as a great warrior, a fiend to many others because of his cruel and twisted ways. What mother would be so cruel as to name their son after her brother? She knew one such unfortunate soul, Chikara Homura. They were drinking buddies, one of the few men who did not treat her as an invalid or a bumbling fool. She knew what people said, most were not even kind enough as to keep it to a low whisper. Blindness does not equate to deafness, rather quite the opposite in her case with her inhuman sense of sound. She never saw him, the way he saw her. She never even noticed, she was too twisted around Sousuke - a fact that had been true since the start of this mortal lifespan. Everything she had done and was presently doing was for her sake, but it was easier when she thought she was fighting a stranger.

"Shiori would hate what I've become..."

The winds swam about Chikara, wrapping and writhing mingled with his leaking corruption. "What have I done?" Shiori muttered out-loud. She was going to get herself killed again doing the 'right' thing. She continued to use this time to try and recover the loss of function in her right arm, there was no way she would be able to perform a ninjutsu counter without both her hands. If she was able to, she might be able to subjugate the toxic maelstrom surrounding him. She would not be able to assault him directly, not knowing what that vortex was capable of.

"We can't let you kill us, cabal or not. We need to protect the last Chikara until he is old enough to kill us himself, as penance for what we've done"

Another talking sword. Another weapon she would have to kill, much like the Ebon Blade. Dangerous, terrible creations of ancient man that she did not fully understand but she knew they fell her brothers and it explained why her arm was not healing. He actually might do some real, memorable damage. She took her hand away from her arm, still bleeding sand from her collar. "Another sentient weapon manipulating its wielder," this was the second weapon she had dealt with that seemed to take matters into their own hands. "Kill YOU. Don't make me laugh,"</B><i></i> Shiori called out from obscurity. "I am not releasing you from whatever prison was forged to contain you!" The inert does not speak, the inert does not see, consume or know. She had seen it in the Ebon Blade, it lied. It was nothing more than a fallacy wrapped in a metal box.

Suddenly, in a flash, Homura broke his position and came for her. Swaying like a drunkard, she did not try to evade. She leaned low, her stance sloppy and her fist closed. She was going to counter fire with fire, or in this case steel with a fist.

<B>Fist of Sin: Gluttony

A clang resonated when the attacks struck. Pain shot up her right arm like an electrical current. She grimaced as she felt her shoulder almost dislocate before it popped back into place. She was still using the shadows and her song to obscure his view, perhaps he knew he hit her or assumed that it was a near miss but surely he would have known that he hit something.

"You fucking asshole, you broke my arm!" She complained as sand spilled from her wound. Her song started to change as she focused on his will. Her song was painful and meant to pull at the sinews of his heart.

Mental Kombat

"Joined the Cabal!" her voice became metallic as Nocturne of Shadow was 'relinquished.' She would not be able to convey the message and survive. "Sobriety does not befit you, you... you... fucking-fuck!" What was he thinking joining the Cabal, killing all those people. "I set you up with that hot bar-wench before my accident, I was expecting babies out of you by now you asshole!" Yeah, that was the priority, not his crimes or the hole in her arm. The fact that this illusion would break soon when he killed her, if he did not cease.

MFT

WC: 875

 

[Rakujo Yumeko]

They listened to the woman speak as to how the place was not a place for tourists or fish-ninja, and that no one in the area was less than an A rank threat. Fish-ninja? Just because they were ninja from the now frozen Kirigakure? The duo had watched as the two fought, with the woman getting a hole blown through her shoulder, only after the man had a rib broken from one of the woman's attacks. Soon, the woman would start to sing after asking how the man had survived. The two fighting continued to do so, as both Koji and Rina watched, though the only one of the two that wanted to join in was Koji. He would soon move closer to the two before speaking. "Need any help?" He spoke, asking the woman.

Granted he was only asking since it had seemed she was having a bit of trouble going against the man, and so he figured he'd help out. No reward really necessary. Sure it'd be liked, but he'd turn one down, at least most rewards would be though he could think of a few that he wouldn't though he would be sure to get an earful from Rina if he didn't deny any reward... Oh well...


[Sorry for the bad post ;-;]

 

[Randamu Kyarakuta]

"kahddfnfmghnf"

Everything she said to him came out sounding like that, the sword itself could understand her but he was almost deaf, it was saving his life but it was also dulling his senses. He could no longer feel the pain of the mark, and was having what some might consider an out of body experience. He saw shiori in front of him, bleeding profusely from his attack and his body moved on its own, him only a passenger at this point, on auto-pilot. His body would reach down and pick her up by the throat with his free hand, squeezing tight as he lifted, shaking her body about wildly in front of him until her neck snapped and the skin, sinew, and blood all seperated, removing her head from her shoulders. The head would hit the ground with a thud, the body still held up by his hand, holding onto the spine. He'd toss it to the side, it splattering into the building. He'd look down at his hand, blood pooled into it, and although he thought it was hers, it was his, as he'd been squeezing thin air, cutting into his own hand with his fingertips. He'd turn to the head on the ground, it looking up at him and blinking. Did she still have brain activity? Then it'd speak as he lifted his foot to smash it into a paste.

"Joined the Cabal!"

He snapped back into his body, the first clear thing he'd heard, and reeled back as the illusion faded, his back smacking into the bar wall, making a thud as he swung his sword half-heartedly in front of him, as if swinging at ghosts. Just the mention of them made him relive everything he did, this time unable to dull it with drink. "Sobriety does not befit you, you... you... fucking-fuck!" Those swears, they were familiar. He felt as if he'd heard them before in exactly that fashion. "I set you up with that hot bar-wench before my accident, I was expecting babies out of you by now you asshole!"

The bar wench, his mind would begin focusing more on her, and how uncomfortable she looked around the drunken lot of us at that time. He had felt just as odd, telling her to leave with him and circle around the bar and come back in. She did, and shiori never knew the difference. Shiori...his thoughts shifted to her, laughing like a sow in the bar that night, she looked radiant to him, the one he really wanted to be with that night, the reason he showed up in the first place. He'd never showed in any way physically that he meant these things, or feelings. Maybe something extra-sensory he couldn't prevent that she could pick up, but he doubted it.

"Shiori...shiori...shiori..." he repeated to himself out loud over and over, getting louder with every name drop. "SHIORI!" he said, ramming the blade of his sword into the ground, releasing it and sliding down the wall onto his ass. The sword itself would let out this toxic air poof, the taint that ran through it no longer being channeled through it. He had forced himself back in control with sheer willpower, lesser beings would have been destroyed. The mark would rescind back into his eye, the Chikara clan kanji fading from his eye, but the eye itself remained changed, now a purple color where the whites of his eyes should be. A mark that he was forever changed. As his body calmed down, tears began to well in his eyes, the tainted one's tears being blood or some sort of ectoplasmic discharge.

"Shiori...I'm so sorry."

He said between crying, heaving breaths. He turned and looked at what he had wrought, her crumpled up across the way,a nd pleaded to her.

"K-kill me..."

[MFT]