ABOUT US

[Kemushi]

Time and Date: June the 27th, 1:15 PM
Location: The Boardwalk Market

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The samurai had left Takigakure no Sato with little in the form of recreation or sightseeing. It had little of these things to start with. A minor village, Takigakure was very strict and very demanding of its shinobi, its ambition to one day become equal in power to the mayor five countries the source of its iron attitude. Shinobi that failed to complete their missions or even those that were at the wrong place at the wrong time were imprisoned, and there was little in the village that did not involve productivity. It paid off in the sense that Taki was the strongest out of the minor villages. However, what little the village could offer to keep one entertained while off duty was now destroyed when Anzen’s Ravens had attacked.

This was bad because it was virtually impossible to create a romantic setting whatsoever.

Hideaki Kemushi had been feeling strange for a while now. He was more cheerful than usual, even his jackass elder cousin Tatsuo couldn’t get to him, that was how great his mood was. He was much more eager to go on missions or do any team activity whatsoever, and was making much greater progress training his Godai Myoo path. He also had a sudden abundance of energy, unable to sit still and pay attention but with his ability to remain active for a long period of time vastly superior to typical moods. Most importantly, no matter what he focused his mind on, somehow his lines of thought always found their way back to one person.

Yoishierumi Miyabi.

Was it fair to say that Kemushi was in love? Yes it was. The genin had never felt like this before. Most other girls he knew were stupid giggly dimwits that seemed to make a joke of everything and constantly whispered secrets to one another. Miyabi was different. She was much more mature. She was independent, strong , confident and smart, but also witty and very funny. And she was pretty, too! There was something about her slightly darker than usual skin that Kemushi found alluring and exotic.

The problem? Finding out if she felt the same way about him. And if this was not the case, making her feel the same way about him. The two got along well enough outwardly. They had been teammates for a while now, and the months of doing missions together, spending quality time together with Ryudashi and throwing Tatsuo’s insults back at him with witty comebacks had forged a bond of friendship between them. Therefore there was nothing suspicious about inviting her to a day of strolling through Takigakure’s Boardwalk Market, now mostly repaired after the samurai attack. They had no mission today and both Tatsuo and Ryudashi were busy doing stuff of their own, so the two could just stroll through the market area looking and possibly buying whatever caught their interest. Just as friends, of course.

Today, Kemushi would win her affection. He already had a few plans in mind to make it work, ranging from buying her something to saving her from some very conveniently placed danger. He mused over each and every one of them, considering every detail as he waited for the none expectant Miyabi to arrive where they had agreed to meet, at the entrance of the market. For all she knew this was merely going to be a day hanging with a friend.

[Yoishierumi Miyabi]

Miyabi was happy to at least get a day of rest. Ryudashi and Tatsou had been given an assignment that neither she nor Kemushi was going to be a part with. Her father had jumped on the suggestion that she either helped her mother out at the restaurant for the day or at the shop that the Yoishierumi clan members took turns stocking and working for the day. As much has she loved working with both parents, Miyabi had chosen to go and spend time with her mother for the day seeing how she was more understanding.

Kemushi had asked her to meet him the night before at the entrance to the small market place. At first she was going to decline saying something about helping at home, but then she reminded that she needed a few things from there that she had been putting off. She knew her mother would let her off if the restaurant was slow or if she asked before a rush. Her father on the other hand would not even bother to give her an answer if she asked to leave in a middle of working at the shop. She knew better than to leave when she was working there expect for a mission. Meeting a teammate just to grab a few things was not a mission.

When she got to her mother’s restaurant she looked around and spotted the older woman that Miyabi had inherited most of her facial features. She smiled and walked into the kitchen and started to help her mother prep for the day’s lunch rush. It was about ten before Miyabi decided to ask her mother if she could go and meet up with Kemushi.

”Hey mom mind if I dart out of here for a couple of hours and pick up a few things before the shops get too busy and close?” She asked as she finished cutting up a few carrots and sticking one into her mouth to chew.

Her mother looked up and gave her a look for a moment. “What time would this be darting out of here be?”

Miyabi smiled slightly and shrugged slightly. ”About oneish…I told Kemushi-kun I would meet him and we would restock the supplies we need for our pouches and bags for missions.”

Her mother gave her a stern look but smiled after a moment and nodded her head slightly. “Make sure you come back here. The last thing I need is your father scolding you and me for letting you out of working.”

Miyabi giggled slightly and walked over and kissed her mother’s cheek. ”Thanks and I don’t think that is going to happen. I heard the Kage wanted him for something before I left the house.” Miyabi went about working until about one ten when her mother told her to get lost for a few hours. She washed up and grabbed her short sleeve jacket she had brought and walked out the door and down the street.

It was about seven minutes later that she walked up and saw Kemushi waiting for her. She looked at her watched and smirked slightly and shrugged. She did not have Akiko on her shoulder today, which was weird for her, but all the same it meant that she was not going to be holding onto two conversations at once like she normally did.

”Sorry I'm late, I got held up at the restaurant helping my mother out.”

[Kemushi]

Looking up to see Miyabi nearing him, his heart made a salto in his chest. ”That’s alright.”, he replied to her apology. ”Let’s get busy. Ehm, busy buying things, of course. Not busy…. Ahem…. Yeah, lets go.” With a blush on his cheeks, he lead the way into the market. Normally he would’ve laughed such a silly mistake off, but today he really didn’t want to seem like a fool.

The Boardwalk Market itself was pretty ordinary today in terms of crowds. It wasn’t a weekend, so most shinobi or otherwise working people were making themselves useful being productive, or in the case of the shinobi probably killing things. Some street urchins were plotting to steal some fruit from a nearby stand, but the salesman had been on to them for quite some time, and when they edged closer he grabbed one firmly by the arm and threatened to beat his behind into a blue, bruised mess if he even as much as tried. As they walked past, Kemushi observed Miyabi from the corner of his eye. Akiko-chan, the lemur she could summon that served both as an extra pair of eyes in battle and friend. This worked out fine for Kemushi. While he didn’t particularly dislike the monkey, her teasing personality as well as her sharp wit was something he could do without considering his objective.

”So….” Kemushi started in an attempt to open a conversation. ”Got anything in mind to buy?” An ordinary enough question, but by asking Miyabi about what she was planning to buy, he hoped he would be able to find out about something she would really want to have in her possession. There had to be something she really wanted, and if he’d spend the money he worked so hard for to buy it for her, she’d be all over him. She’d confess to him, and not vice versa.

[Yoishierumi Miyabi]

Miyabi had already been looking a head of Kemushi slightly and adjusting her jacket. She was never without her normal jacket, but her chuunin flask she was given she only wore on missions like the rest of the chuunin around. She looked back to Kemushi when he started to speak about getting busy. She caught the small blush appear on his cheeks and the failure to laugh about his own mistake there. She raised her eyebrow slightly. Usually the boy was joking about with her when his cousin was not around them; perhaps there was something on his mind?

She shrugged and moved with him and catching the thieves out of the corner of her eye at a stall and watched them for a moment. If it got out of hand than she would step in and break of the fight. The last thing they needed was a brawl in the market street. For now it was neither her nor Kemushi’s problem and she decided it would stay that way into she was needed.

She smiled slightly when a slight breeze hit her face among the crowd and slipped her hands into her pocket and looked around at the stalls once more when Kemushi asked his questions. ”I am running low on supplies for my first aid kit I carry and my kunais and tanto swords needs to be sharpened up a bit. They are all a bit dull. Oh and new lighter…I ran the other one out of flint.”

She giggled slightly and looked back to Kemushi. Over the last year or so she had been starting to burn stuff with her alcohol jutsu, something her father had grown to disapprove of all together. She was scolded when she was helping her brother with some of the clan’s jutsu and showed him how to place the jutsu on fire. Her brother was excited, but after a being told off she had stopped showing her brother how to do it. She continued doing though away from her father and brother.

”You seem quiet today Kemushi-kun, what is going on in that head of yours? You are normally talking my ear off about something.” Miyabi said as she walked a bit closer to a stall that was selling sweets from other places in the world. Her eyes fell onto some kuri kinton and she bit her lip slightly. She knew she shouldn’t been even a sweet every now and then was good for people.

”Can have some kuri kinton please?” She asked the owner of the stall.

[Kemushi]

”I.. I see.”, Kemushi answered as Miyabi summed up what she needed to buy. ”Tch.. that’s not romantic at all. Winning her heart by buying her a lighter… the thought of it..” To be honest, Kemushi had never tried to seduce a girl before, and he honestly didn’t know what to say and where to start. Would it be best just to talk to her like he always did? The conversations they had were usually fun, but they were conversations you had with friends. And the last thing Kemushi wanted right now was to remain friends.

”You seem quiet today Kemushi-kun, what is going on in that head of yours? You are normally talking my ear off about something.”

”Nothing! Nothing at all!”, Kemushi rapidly replied, with just a tad too much panic in his voice. ”Damnit, this is tough. I think she’s figuring it out.” Courting a lady was harder than he thought. They were together now for what, five minutes, and Kemushi was already at a loss of words. At least most kids his age had parents to advice them about stuff like this, often without the kid willing to listen. But still, a little direction would’ve greatly helped here.

Adding to his insecurity was the fact that Miyabi was now a chuunin instead of a genin, just like his cousin Tatsuo. The reveal had been made a few months ago. The team had already been adapted to that fact, but still Kemushi didn’t like the fact that he was now the only genin on the team. Not at all. It made him feel like he was dead weight. For the first time since he had been expelled from team Zoujin did he regret his misbehavior. Standing up for an untalented genin who was severely oppressed by the scumbag jounin that was Dotage Zoujin, Kemushi was expelled from the team for several months, forced to do manual labor and redundant chores where he could have been going on more serious missions. As a result, when he was placed in team Ryudashi just a few weeks before the exams would take place Kemushi lacked both the experience and a jounin’s recommendation to partake in the exams in Hyouga. When the news of Miyabi’s promotion reached the team, the Hideaki had sworn to himself that he would become a chuunin in the next exams. He would not stay behind. Nevertheless, he was happy for Miyabi. Happy that the shinobi world recognized her talents.

Lost in thoughts, he almost missed the notion of Miyabi ordering some sweets.

”This is my chance!”, he thought as he reached for his wallet. ”I’ll pay for it!”, he said. Well, shouted would have been a better word. Some people nearby looked up from their doings to direct their attention to the source of the sudden loud outburst of vocal activity. This was Kemushi’s third blunder already. With his cheeks turning red again from embarrassment, he spoke again, albeit softer, while holding up his wallet. ”I’ll pay.. for the food..”

”This is going terrible…”

[Yoishierumi Miyabi]

Miyabi had never really asked what Kemushi did to be placed on their team, but she had overheard a few other people mentioned something about the boy was sticking up for someone. Even she had a habit of doing that, but she nearly always twisted things around before saying something to someone else. Her father had accused her a few times for having a sharp tongue that needed to be watched. When she was reward her chuunin vest her father made a point of pulling her aside and warning her that her tongue would no longer be tolerated even within the family. Now she was careful to how she spoke around certain people that she knew not to trust.

Kemushi on the other hand didn’t seem to mind her tongue and she had yet to be scolded by Ryudashi for it. Tatsuo was another story. She didn’t care what the older chuunin thought of her and would simply ignore him or make a comment back if it suited her needs from time to time.

She looked over to Kemushi when he said nothing was on his mind. She giggled slightly and rolled her eyes some. Even she could tell something was up. For now she would let it go and move on. When she went to pull out her own money she was stopped by Kemushi shouting and people was staring at them because of this. She blinked and looked back at Kemushi. She remembered the mission a few months ago when he was thinking about purchasing a potato and called him greedy.

”Err….thanks…I guess Kemushi-kun….” She said not knowing exactly what to say when the woman handed her the order of sweets and took the money from Kemushi. When she turned her back she could have sworn she heard the lady giggle behind her, but when she turned her head to look at the lady she seemed wrapped up in someone else.

”What do you need to by Kemushi-kun other than something for my sweet tooth I seem to have for the day?” She said and looked down at the kuri kinton balls. All together there were six of them. ”How about we split these? I will never finish them all and my brother would sniff them out and eat the rest himself without telling me.” She liked her sweets, but didn’t like sharing with an ungrateful brat sometimes.

She picked one up and took a bit of it. Instantly she smiled slightly. ”I wish my mother was good at cooking sweets like this, but she definitely don’t make them like this.” She looked around slightly. It was by far just a normal day for her. She seemed unaware of the glowing feeling her teammate was feeling for her.

It didn’t take her long to walk around to another stall that seemed to be selling knickknacks for travelers. She looked around and saw a wooden carving of the lemurs. She blinked when she saw it and smirked and shook her head slightly. No doubt if Akiko was here she would make a fuss about the small figure. She would have to remind herself not to come over here next time she had her with her.

”You have a little brother too don’t you Kemushi?”

[Kemushi]

Things were obviously going less than splendid. Up to now all of Kemushi’s attempts to look cool and generous only made him look like an ass. That last outburst in particular evoked a fair amount of snickers and grins, and he didn’t want Miyabi to think that he would embarrass her when they were together. Sadly enough judging by her reaction, he had already done that.

”…’kay..”, Kemushi replied as he was offered some of her candy. Nibbling on it, it was from her questioning look that he recalled she had asked him a question as well. ”Oh!”, he said. Honestly Kemushi didn’t need to buy anything. The sole reason for him being here today was to try and make a move on the Yoishierumi chuunin, and because he kept focusing on multiple scenario’s in which would be perfect for confessing his feelings to the girl he hadn’t come up with a valid excuse in advance.

”Er…ehm.. just some kunai. Stock is running low..”, he lied as he trailed behind her. ”I’ve got to do something!”, he thought barely hearing her comment about how delicious the food was. As a matter of fact, he barely tasted the sweets at all, taking bites and chewing on them without even fully registering what he was eating.

The duo stopped when they reached a stand which sold trinkets. Most shinobi and normal citizens took little notice to these stands, they were solely for tourists. Taki’s unique look and overall feel attracted its fair amount of travelers and sightseers, but to Kemushi who had lived here all his life Takigakure no Sato was a pretty dull place. Miyabi herself seemed intrigued by a small piece of wood carved into the shape of a lemur. It probably reminded her of Akiko, but the way she shook her head was a clear indication that the resemblance to a real lemur left much to be desired.

She then directed her attention to Kemushi again, inquiring about his little brother which slightly confused the Hideaki. ”Yeah, I do. He’s in the academy. Why do you ask?”

[Yoishierumi Miyabi]

Miyabi started to feel a bit uncomfortable about how Kemushi was acting around her. It was not like him to be like this around her and she started to feel a bit off about it. However, she made no motion or comment about this. She decided to let it play out for now and see what would come to it. She hoped that he would start acting normal around her again. She did not want have to ask him out front what was going on since he was trying to hide it from her it seemed. She simply sighed to herself and let it go.

She walked a bit closer to the stand that had the lemur when he mentioned his kunai supple was running low. She had taken a few from him on the last mission and smirked some. She knew they were not that low. ”You need to come up with a better lie than that, my friend. You had plenty on the last mission and even allowed me to have a few because of my carelessness and forgetting to grab some.”

She picked up the lemur and examined it closely and grinned slightly and shook her head slightly when the owner saw her picking up the useless thing. It seemed like he was about to start trying to get her to buy it. She ran a finger around the tail and placed it back on the table and moved away from it. It was no secret to the village that her clan used the lemurs as summoned. Hell she ran around with one on her shoulder most of the time so it was kinda hard not to notice. The details on that thing to her were pathetic and she preferred the right one on her shoulder any day.

”Simple. She said and looked at Kemushi. ”I have a little brother as well in there. Annoying little shit that he is, but he doing okay I guess.” She shrugged slightly. ”So does your cousin pick on everyone like he does with you?” It was something that had been irking her about his cousin the way that he went about picking on him and her when Ryudashi seemed to be out of ear shot. She would have hoped by now that he would have learned that picking on her was not going to draw her into a verbal argument like it did with Kemushi.

Once the kuri kinton were gone she crumpled up the wrapper and tossed it into a trash bin she walked passed. She walked closer to the weapon shop and walked inside of it. She looked around and slowly took off her tanto swords and held them out to the shop keeper. ”Can I get these sharpened please?”

The shopkeeper smiled and nodded at her. “Still using these things Miyabi-san? You know I can get you a few decent long swords.”

Miyabi smiled and smirked some ”Now now Unpei-sama you know I would rather be in close range has I split alcohol into my opponents face. Better chance of them screaming in pain that way.”

Unpei laughed slightly and shook his head. “You remind me of your father when he was your age…”

[Kemushi]

Kemushi’s cheeks colored red again at Miyabi’s reply about his reason for coming here, making him wish he had taken some time to come up with an excuse beforehand. Due to his inexperience with love, almost everything he had said until now only served in making him seem suspicious and awkward. For once he wished he could be more like Ryudashi-sensei. The jounin was only a few years older than Kemushi technically. The five years that they differed in age was a distance that later in their lives would seem irrelevant and, individual personalities aside, would hardly justify for any difference in maturity. Currently, however, the “grown-up” aura that the cool Jounin who always managed to keep his composure up made his advantage in age seem like all the difference in the world.

It was a good thing, perhaps, that Miyabi began questioning him about his brother and, more importantly, if Tatsuo treated him just as badly as Kemushi. While badmouthing his cousin wasn’t the most original or surprising in Kemushi’s range of subjects to talk about, it was one that he enjoyed and one he was good at in talking about. Whenever he described exactly how much of a terrible person the Hideaki Chuunin was, the anger and frustration at his very existence took hold of him and temporarily made him a very passionate speaker, apparently completely forgetting how awkward he had made himself seem just moments ago.

”You bet he does!”, he answered as Miyabi divided her attention in between listening to him and negotiating with a shopkeeper who would be sharpening her blade. A comment that she made about spitting alcohol in someone's face that would usually make him smile was now completely ignored in favor of hearing his own voice. ”And it’s not just the two of us either! Even when we were still kids Tatsuo always loved picking on his younger cousins. Calling them names, pinching them, hitting them and stealing their toys. Why the fuck does a person like that need to exist anyway?! And to make things worse, he’s actually an elder now. Kyouko-sama promoted him after… you know… It happened.”

Miyabi would have known damn well what Kemushi meant by It. Every Taki-nin, from the youngest Genin right to the most veteran Jounin, knew about the Hideaki and the ill fate that had befallen them two years ago. Hideaki Isamu, one of the clan’s finest and most beloved Jounin, for one reason or another butchered every adult Hideaki overnight, leaving only the children alive, and fled the village immediately afterwards. Why? No one knew. There were no signs of conflict between Isamu and any of the other clan members nor was there any proof of bribery from another village, though the idea that Isamu had indeed been paid a considerable sum of money for crippling the clan was indeed one of the more popular theories. Some of the remaining Hideaki speculated that the client was one of Taki’s own clans. The Hideaki were still a young clan founded only around the Second Great Shinobi World War, but they were continuing to grow quickly and win the favor of the village, much to the frustration of some of the older and more established clans. Regardless, to this day Isamu had not been caught.

Mentioning the Hideaki Massacre and Isamu again was a new source of frustration and anger boiling deep within Kemushi’s guts. He had lost his parents that day…...

Clenching his fist, it was plainly visible to everyone that the massacre brought forth a great deal of rage inside Kemushi. His own mistake for bringing it up in his bantering about Tatsuo, and he realized quickly that it was not a subject fit for what was supposed to be a pleasant day shopping. So he swallowed his anger like he usually did and forced a smile onto his face.

”Ah, never mind! So, you had a brother too, you said? How old is he? Maybe he and Enrai are in the same class!”, Kemushi changed the subject, Enrai being the name of his little brother.

[Yoishierumi Miyabi]

Miyabi looked over her shoulder when Kemushi started to talk about how Tatsuo not only pushed around him, but a lot of the younger children in the clan as well. She could not help but to feel that the chuunin was more than an ass than she first thought. Yet, she did not even know what to do about it either. She knew her father would want her to mind her own business in the matter since it looked to be more of a clan thing. Interfering with another clan could be deadly for not only her but the village as well. Her clan had their customs and ways.

She glanced away from him when he brought up what had happened with his clan. She knew what he was referring to. Takigakure was such a small village that it was hard not to hear about something happening to one of the minor clans that produced shinobi to protect its land. She sighed slightly and decided against saying anything on this matter. It was not her business unless it interfered with their team work. Only real time she had any issues with Tatsuo was when he was picking on her and she knew she could handle that without stepping on too many toes.

”Toes…stepping on them now would be dangerous…best to watch and see how it turns out for Kemushi-kun and Tatsuo-san.” She thought as she watched the blacksmith take her swords and chuckle slightly at her words about getting into the enemies’ face. She hated leaving them here, but hovering around him seemed to be just as bad. She would come and pick them up with the rest of the supplies later.

She smirked some and shrugged some. ”Eleven he should be graduating the academy soon. He annoying little shit most of the time though.” She thought to how her brother was coming with his training and shook her head slightly with a smile. ”I have been helping my dad to teach him how to summon the lemurs, but its not going all too well. I don’t think he understands ninjutsu all that much, but he decent with taijutsu though and our clan abilities.”

She looked around and moved a bit closer to a sword for a moment and ran her finger across the blade of it. She withdrew her hand and looked back to him and smiled some. ”Need anything from here or you just want to go look around the market. Its going to be awhile before Unpei-sama finishes sharpening those for me…last time I hung around here I had Akiko-chan with me and well…we made a mess of this place and he gave us a lecture that I would rather skip this time around.”

[Kemushi]

The subject was quickly changed into something more casual, and Kemushi was grateful for it. Bringing up the Hideaki massacre was a mistake; it was a subject that would only evoke anger and frustration in Kemushi if further elaborated on, and more likely than not it would just leave Miyabi with little to say out of fear for unnecessarily stepping on his toes. Swallowing his anger, he nodded as Miyabi spoke about her brother before elaborating on his own. ”Mine’s only eight, so I don’t expect him to graduate anytime soon yet. Although I have to say, his grades have been really amazing. We might be dealing with a prodigy here.” The last part had been said with a comical undertone, Kemushi trying to make it sound like a joke while, in truth, it was a very likely scenario. The idea made Kemushi proud, but at the same time brought up a feeling of envy.

Miyabi’s questioning about what to do as her blades were sharpened brought Kemushi’s mind back to his goal. Talking hadn’t worked up until now, but he had a plan B.Something he had prepared beforehand. ”I need to buy something for my brother. Its his birthday soon. I’m going to get him the newest edition of his favorite manga.”

In truth, Kemushi had given a street urchin a hundred ryo to prepare a little trap. He would wait in a narrow alley until Miyabi and Kemushi came by. He would then ambush them by throwing a pair of shuriken at Miyabi before bolting into the alley quickly, and Kemushi, heroic as he was, would jump in front of the Chuunin and catch the shuriken with his body.

The catch: They were rubber shuriken. They wouldn’t wound Kemushi in any way possible, of course he would feign ignorance about this. He would act as if he believed the shuriken were 100% real until after they would have bounced harmlessly off his chest, thus giving Miyabi the impression that he was genuinely willing to jump in front of a lethal attack for her.

”That kid is seriously obsessed with these detective manga. I remember one time, he had staged an act together with another Hideaki about his age. That kid stole a cookie, and Enrai went across the entire compound with a spyglass looking for clues.”, Kemushi storied about his brother as he reached the alley. Just as he had expected, a boy in rags suddenly moved out of the shadow, throwing two black projectiles at Miyabi, who was at the alley’s side of the street. Kemushi, pretending to be surprised, sprinted into action, shoved Miyabi aside just in time for the rubber shuriken to hit him, bouncing off him harmlessly. Then, trying to look as cool as possible, he slowly turned his head towards Miyabi. Smiling, he would say something along the lines of ”You will always be safe with me, Miyabi-chan.” He would if given the chance. For just as that, the boy who had thrown the shuriken popped his head out of the alley.

”Can I have my 100 ryo now, Kemushi-senpai?”

Kemushi’s thoughts about this were clearly readable in his body language. The smile on his face vanished, in its place an angry scowl as his shoulders slumped. One of his hands was brought up to his face, its palm covering it. Then, he made a sharp turn towards the boy, walked up to him and punched his head with a clenched fist.

”You ain’t getting any now!”

[Yoishierumi Miyabi]

Miyabi listened to Kemushi and caught that the part of his brother being a prodigy was meant to be a joke. She smiled and shook her head some. There were some like that in her clan that did well at the academy and the clan jutsu, but even then she could see that they lacked something. She was never too sure what they lacked since she didn’t go about praising them. She was always too focus on her own goals and wants to care about them.

”Prodigy huh? At least he doing well in the academy…I was always told my genjutsu sucked during those days. Who needs genjutsu anyways? Oh prodigies are too overrated. The only things they do really are catch onto things faster. In the end we all get to be useful to the village. So screw them they’re nothing to envy.” She shrugged slightly. She did not mean to sound rude or anything, but it was just how she saw things at the moment. ”Just because someone seems to have more talent then you doesn’t mean that have more heart or desire Kemushi-kun its what you do and how you do it that matters. If all they were to accept was prodigies than our whole way of life would be a waste.”

She walked out of the shop and looked around as Kemushi had spoke about how he needed to get his brother a manga. She laughed slightly with a smile on her face. She remember going through that phrase with herself before she graduated the academy. Her own brother had hated her for it since he was always the bad guy in their little game and she had in turn played the bad guy in his when he wanted to play around like that. She giggled at the thought of playing the games until something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye.

She turned and watched something heavy flying towards her, before she could react though Kemushi jumped into the way and they hit him and flew to the pavement. She blinked slightly and bent down as someone popped outside the alley where they had come from asking Kemushi for money. She watched her angry teammate march up and smacked the boy.

She totally was not sure how she was supposed to take this. Had Kemushi stage this? For what reason did he do this. She picked up the shuriken and felt it and looked back at the boys for a moment and shook her head slightly. They were in the middle of the market and she even noticed some people looking around at the three of them. She turned her attention to a girl that had graduated with her as she laughed with her friend.

“Think that boy has a crush on you alcoholic!” She sneered and walked away from Miyabi and the boys with her friend.

She turned back to Kemushi and picked up the rest of the toys and walked over to them and went to push them into the alley. She was use to the girl always calling her that and had used her jutsu on her for revenge a few times in the past. However, more pressing matters were coming to see what Kemushi really had on his mind today. It would explain why he acted like this around her all day.

”Kemushi-kun not to be rude again…but childish acts in the market place is dangerous. You know this…”

[Kemushi]

”Well.. I… er..”, Kemushi stuttered. Miyabi’s tone was confronting. She was now definitely suspicious. How was he going to explain this? He could brush it off as an attempt at a practical joke, but she would only think of such as childish. He didn’t want her to label him as some immature prankster, that would ruin any chance of winning her heart. He wanted to seem cool and mature, but the stupid kid who didn’t seem to understand that this was not the right moment to drop the act had ruined that.

”See… I...”

The girl that had just passed had been right on the spot, meaning that Kemushi’s intentions were painfully obvious even to outsiders. He couldn’t let Miyabi find out just yet. He had to wait for the perfect timing. Once he had successfully managed to look cool enough to leave Miyabi in complete awe, then he could confess. Any sooner, and it wouldn’t deliver the desired effect.

”Uhm, yeah… I want… I..ehm…”

Then the street urchin suddenly reached into Kemushi’s pocket. Angry at having been punched and denied his payment, what he retrieved made Kemushi break out in cold sweat. A love letter. The love letter bearing his confession. He had spent hours pondering over the right words, rewriting it multiple times. Then, he had walked back and forth to the mailbox multiple times, often deciding not to send it only to decide he would when he was back at home. In the end, he decided that a verbal, face to face confession would be best.

He should’ve burned that letter when he had the chance instead of forgetting about it and keeping it in his pocket. Now the boy was prancing around with an envelope with Miyabi’s name on it, containing a detailed letter about Kemushi’s feeling for the girl, how he was captivated by her eyes and how butterflies fluttered in his stomach every time she smiled.

”Gimme that!”, Kemushi said as he activated his Godai Myoo path, causing the tattoo’s on both his hands to become visible. A pitch black, sticky tentacle emerged from the palm of his hand, coiling around the boy’s leg as the kid moved towards Miyabi to hand her the letter. The tentacle yanked the boy’s leg causing him to lose his balance and fall flat on his face. As he lost his balance, however, the letter was released from his grip, floating in the air due to its light weight until the wind suddenly carried it… right into Miyabi’s hands.

”S…shit..”

[Yoishierumi Miyabi]

Miyabi watched Kemushi stumble under his words. She hated to admit that the girl might be right the way he was acting at the moment. She valued the boy as a friend and teammate, but never anything more than that. Her crush was someone older than her and for the most part seen out of bound to her considering it was Ryudashi. To her he was strong and valued her thoughts on matters before making a choice. Plus that had already been through a lot that she doubted Kemushi or Tatsuo would even understand.

She sighed slightly when she saw the boy reached into Kemushi’s pocket and pull out something. Her mind was brought back to the present by this. She grinned as she saw the ink become visible on her teammate hands. ”Kemushi-kun…now is not the time nor place to do that….” She gave a warning tone. As long as the fight was not going to get too out of hand there was not much that she was going to do about it.

She watched as the boy tried to hand the letter to her and then looked back to Kemushi tripping him to the ground. She sighed slightly, but caught the letter in her hand. This was obviously something Kemushi did not want her to see, but as she turned it over she saw her name on it. She blinked and looked between the two boys for a moment. Why Kemushi would have a letter address to her when he could talk to her in person? Then it hit her heard recalling all that had happened between now and this.

”…..Boy is this going to be fun if this letter is about his feelings….” She thought to herself and moved to open the letter. She felt it was better to actually find out what the letter was about so she could try and handle the situation that this was now causing before anything could get too out of hand. She opened the letter and unfolded it to read:

Miyabi-chan

I’ve been feeling really weird lately. For some reason I just can’t stop thinking about you. The sun dancing in your raven black hair, the sweet sound of your voice every time you laugh at my jokes or insult Tatsuo. Everything about you is just so perfect. The only thing missing is me at your side.

Miyabi, I hope you are willing to let me take you out on a date when you realize this. I promise you won’t regret it

Kemushi

A blushed tinted her light brown cheeks as her eyes read the letter over twice. Now she was not sure how to approach this with a ten foot sword. She glanced at Kemushi and gave a weak smile while her canine tooth sank into her inside lip to watch him for a moment or so. She knew this was not a joke or a laughing matter. There was no why she could twist this around…she would just have to tell him that she didn’t feel the same way.

”….Kemushi-kun….I am flattered…but…”

[Kemushi]

Multiple emotions went thought Kemushi as Miyabi caught and opened the letter. The most obvious and prominent one was fear. Fear for rejection, fear for being ridiculed.. fear for his fears being confirmed… His attempts to look cool and dashing had all horribly backfired turning what had supposed to be a romantic walk through the market to a roller coaster of awkward moments. Yet there was also a small amount of satisfaction. It had been done. He had confessed. Perhaps not in the way he wanted, but at least it had happened. Now all he had to do was await her reaction.

The kid had managed to escape the grasp of Kemushi’s tentacle. Not that Kemushi was actually trying to keep hold of him. Now that the letter had found its way into Miyabi’s hands, there was no reason for that. He allowed the boy to bolt into the alley again, his smile showing his satisfaction at getting back at the Genin. Whether or not Kemushi would develop a grudge against him would depend on Miyabi’s respond, for all he knew the boy could have actually helped the Hideaki get a girlfriend by forcing a confession that perhaps Kemushi would never possess the courage to confess by himself.

It took Miyabi way too long to read the letter. She seemed to take ages, silently letting her eyes slide along the text while Kemushi stared intensely at her face, hoping to discover some sign of emotion. Happiness, embarrassment, even disgust were preferred above this kind of tension. Finally, something was hinted at on her face. The cheeks of her light brown skin darkened ever so slightly.

”She’s blushing! That’s a good sign!”

She then looked at him, managing a weak smile that lasted for a few moments. This was it. Kemushi could feel his heart thumping in his throat. This was the moment he had both been looking forward to and dreading. Mustering all of his courage, he kept looking her in the eye as he waited hopefully for her saying “yes”. If there was a God out there, or multiple one’s perhaps, then Kemushi was sending all of them a prayer. Please, let her say yes!

”….Kemushi-kun….I am flattered…but…”

New fear took a hold of him. He didn’t like that “but” at the end of her sentence at all. A “but” was never a good sign, and especially not in this situation. Nevertheless he found the courage to ask.

”But what?”