[Graded][Plotboard] Escorts

Golnax · Post by **Golnax** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 12:16 pm

The ride to the mainland was... therapeutic for Aimi. For the most part it was quiet and serene with only the captain telling him to either speed up or slow down depending on current or the wind or some sort of invisible instinct that Aimi lacked, not being a sailor. The constant paddling was a good work out for his legs as well, especially his thighs. The slow, grinding build up of strain in his muscles even distracted him from his costume for the majority of the ride to the point where, while not exactly 'comfortable', he was tolerant of their presence! All things considered when Captain Ishi told him to stop paddling so that they could coast up to the mainland dock, he was in a considerably better mood.

Standing up from his seat was a relief. It felt as if the tension that he'd built up in his thighs suddenly vanished as support of his legs was shifted to his feet and calves, reducing the burning ache to a dull throb in an instant. Stretching, the jounin standing up on the tips of his toes even despite his sandals, Aimi looked out over the dock and saw the people going about their daily grind. He was reminded that he was meant to be a samurai now to these people. Granted, these locals knew who Captain Ishi was and what sort of crew his boat brought with him, so they wouldn't be fooled as to where Aimi and Yuri had come from. Once they left this dock, though, he would have to play the part of a quiet, stern, protective body guard for his Companion... companion.

Moving to the side of the paddle boat as Captain Ishi brought it around, giving the older man a silent nod of appreciation, Aimi stepped off of it and onto the dock and looked around warily. From beneath his wicker hat his sharp blue eyes surveyed the area while he waited for Yuri to join him. He took a step forward away from the boat as he heard his kunoichi partner coming up behind him, half turning with his left hand on the pommel of his sword. "Right this way, my lady," he said, waving his right arm in front of him while holding out his left elbow in offering. "We'll find a new carriage that will take us to the general's abode to keep your... appointment."

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Sun Apr 30, 2017 7:17 pm

Yuri was more than a little happy to finally be off of that boat. She breathed a sigh of relief even as she stepped onto the dock and looped her right arm in with Aimi's left, looking at him a moment with a smile as he briefly spoke. "Thank you, Love." she responded in a whisper before turning her eyes forward. "Let us hope they have made all preparations as I instructed." she added, sighing again though this time with some tone of annoyance as they walked along, coming to the end of the docks and soon to their carriage. This would be a much shorter trip this time of course, and Yuri knew there would be no breaking character again for some time.

As a part of their characters to play, when they arrived at the carriage she made sure that when the door was open she kept a lingering touch on Aimi's arm until the last moment as she stepped into it, giving him a simple and yet sad smile. 'The devil is in the details.' she thought to herself as she got comfortable in this carriage, noticing it was quite smaller than the last. This one had a single bench she would have to share with Aimi, but it didn't bother her. It wasn't just the part they played now that mattered, the trip would be short and any discomfort from being stuck so close together would not last long.

The moment he was in the carriage with her again, her hand she let linger over his, light fingers trailing over the knuckles and between the fingers, her mind appearing to be in some far away place as the ride began.

Golnax · Post by **Golnax** » Sun Apr 30, 2017 11:49 pm

Getting into the carriage after Yuri, Aimi reached up and clapped the carriage roof with his left hand as a signal that they were ready to depart. The carriage was much smaller than the last because of the type of carriage it was. The little rickshaw had little more space than could fit both Yuri and Aimi and that's how it was designed to be, a very small and compact cart that one person or a horse and driver could easily carry, in this case a person. Sitting down beside Yuri and closing the door, the white haired jounin was almost immediately beset by the heat of the cramped ride. Normally being in this close of proximity wouldn't have been an issue for him, but given all of the clothing he was wearing it wasn't long at all before he started to feel sweltering.

The real issue for him, though, was staying in character. Their mission had officially begun now that they were beyond the Kirigakure borders, and so he couldn't just casually mention how much he hated his clothes. Thus, he needed to find a more... subtle way to cope. He did so through meditation, taking in a deep breath, letting it out slowly, and pulling his hands together with his left below his right and his fingers all pulled together. He would have crossed his legs as well were there space to do so. As the rickshaw pulled them along, he cleared his mind as best as he could...

... A task made slightly more difficult by Yuri reaching out and grabbing on to his hand. He opened his eyes and turned his head slightly towards his black haired comrade, his expression hidden behind his wicker hat. Aimi understood her reasoning behind holding his hand almost immediately, but still... Turning his hand over, he let her hold on to it while his other hand moved so that his wrist was bent and his fingers all pointed up to the roof of the rickshaw. Turning his head back forward and closing his eyes, he asked softly, "How long do you think this appointment of yours will last?" A question with dual meaning; he'd asked it not only to keep up his appearance, but also to see if she couldn't give him a rough estimation of how much time he'd have to converse with the guards and get as much information as he could manage.

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Mon May 01, 2017 12:16 am

Yuri leaned against Aimi, her fingers still trailing over his, even as he took her hand in his. Her fingers still ran over his knuckles as her mind wandered, the woman sighing as he asked about her appointment. "Hours." she remarked. "I expect midnight at the earliest will be our end, and that is only if the boy is too quick." she added with a sigh, completely in character as she betrayed a distaste for the conversation, almost as if she detested it especially because the question came from him. "But first is always the tea ceremony and conversation, I must get to know him before anything else is attempted... else I may not be able to figure out just what he may like."

Yuri couldn't help a small yawn as she spoke, looking out the window of the carriage as they left the docs and made their way through the small city. She knew the trip would not be long, and this quiet was going to be the last bit of quiet she got for a good bit of time that day.

Golnax · Post by **Golnax** » Mon May 01, 2017 8:09 am

Aimi was quiet in response to Yuri's remarks about their engagement in the matter going to take hours, internalizing several thoughts at once and condensing them into cliff notes. Hours meant that he'd have to tolerate his discomfort for the rest of the evening, that he had more than enough time to get what information he needed, that by her tone this was going to be an arduous affair to begin with. This tone of hers and his conclusion surprised him a bit. By all intents and purposes, Yuri had seemed like a woman who quite enjoyed sex in his previous encounters with her, save that evening at the waterfall. He wasn't sure if she was just acting her part of a companion or if she really did loathe the idea of spending so long with this boy.

"Get some rest, my lady. We'll be there soon," he encouraged after hearing her yawn. He spent the rest of the trip in silence, letting Yuri hold on to his hand and meditating over this and that. His mind kept wandering back to the other day in the bath house though he was always swift to push it aside, citing it as a distraction that he couldn't afford. He held his posture for the entirety of the trip in the rickshaw.

They arrived, and as the cart came to a stop Aimi opened his eyes. Stepping out of the rickshaw, he looked around diligently before he even set foot on the ground, looking over the top of their carriage to see the general's home. As would be expected of a close friend of the Daimyo, the house was large. The architecture made it hard for him to tell how many stories it had but there were at least two. The roof was high and steeped, curving up towards a singular point and arching at several angles. Two smaller buildings could be seen on the left and right of the main building, all three of them sporting bright red shingles on their roofs. Surrounding these three buildings was a tall wall, not unlike those at Kirigakure, which shared the shingled designs of the buildings. The rickshaw had stopped just outside of the front gate, where two men stood guard.

Aimi eyed the men carefully through his hat. They seemed not to move or react to his or the rickshaw's presence. Either they'd been trained to not react unless ordered to or directly confronted, or they were expected. Likely the latter. Looking away from the walled off building, Aimi looked around the road and the rest of the grounds. Carefully cut shrubbery lined the roads along the general's house and there appeared not to be any other houses near by. Opposite the property was a densely wooded forest filled with thin trees.

Stepping off of the cart, Aimi stood next to the open door with his left hand on the pommel of his blade, waiting for Yuri to step out.

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Thu May 04, 2017 4:14 pm

At Aimi's invitation, Yuri rest her head on his shoulder and drifted off into a short sleep with a small smile on her face, oddly keeping in character even as she slept. Just where her dreams took her, there wasn't a hint of, but when she awoke seemed relatively refreshed even as she stretched and yawned. When Aimi dismounted, Yuri watched him take a look around before following him out, in his role as her bodyguard it made sense to pause between his exit and hers, making sure there were no nearby threats. After all, even in a place such as this there was no such thing as being too careful and the pair would certainly be that.

As she stepped away from the carriage she touched Aimi on the shoulder in a light show of both affection and thanks before turning for the gate. The guards certainly seemed to be expecting them as the pair passed through without being stopped and Yuri started making the rather long walk to the front of the home. As they moved she took a glance around her surroundings, noting entrances and exits to each building she could see as well as the gates and walls around the compound themselves. If things went badly and the two needed to make a quick escape, she knew this information would become necessary. Already her mind came to the conclusion of course that the rooftops and top of the wall would be the best and quickest exit, a hindrance to the average man but not to the pair of shinobi. But all this analysis did not show in her eyes or words as she sighed happily with everything she saw. Most would think, if anything, she was evaluating the wealth of her clients.

She made her way up the steps to the home with Aimi not too far behind, the doors opening before them, pushed so by a pair of what Yuri assumed to be slaves. The open doors revealing an older man in his mid forties before them, bowing politely. "My dear." he said kindly, a deception barely hidden in his tone. "I am so happy to see you here, I'm sure my son's predicament will take all of your arts to solve."

Golnax · Post by **Golnax** » Sat May 06, 2017 4:01 pm

As they passed through the gate onto the property, Aimi's eyes flicked back and forth between the guards. His looks were hidden beneath his wicker hat so to them it appeared as though he were keeping his head forward. He saw how they looked at her though, these actual samurai, or were they simply thugs for hire? They wore no sort of official uniform in any case and looked about as uncomfortable as Aimi felt. They'd probably been standing there for at least a couple of hours. The observation gave him his first question to ask - how often did the shifts change between guards.

As they went forward towards the main house, he didn't bother to look at the surroundings. Unlike Yuri who was planning for the potential eventuality that they might have to escape, he trusted in his own strength enough that, should it come to them having to make a rapid getaway, he could simply burst through any walls in their way on their way to freedom. He was much more concerned with keeping up his appearance than anything. On the ride over, while Yuri had slept, he'd taken time to consider that he was the one who could potentially cause the failure of this mission by slipping in his persona so much as once. Because of this conclusion, he felt he needed to keep an extra sharp vigil on his outward appearance.

To that end, he removed his hand from his swords' pommel and held his arms in front of himself, his hands slid into the opposite sleeve so as to project an air of formality, solidarity, and perhaps most importantly, non-violence. It wouldn't do to have someone randomly look over and suspecting him of foul play, after all. As the doors to the main house hold opened up, Aimi stopped his advance to let Yuri step forward as a form of made up protocol. As the older man, the general, revealed himself and bowed, Aimi bowed twice as low. He said nothing, but he watched carefully. This man was not only in charge of a portion of the nation's military but was also an important face to memorize. In the household that they were about to enter, no one had more power than he. A second question arose itself in his mind; how often is the general about the house, and when does he leave?

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Wed May 10, 2017 10:06 pm

Yuri chuckled in response to the General's statements, shaking her head a bit. "Don't you worry about that, hardly a predicament, just a state of being that is about to change." The general nodded in response though he almost seemed grumpy, giving Aimi a strange look almost as if he were judging the man on sight, something that became both true and clear rather quickly.

"Quiet sort, eh? Who is this?" he almost demanded.

Yuri was clearly bristled by the statement, something her persona she was sure would be offended by, but hse quickly brushed that away and gave the man a reassuring smile. "My bodyguard, my work means a great deal of travel, something that can be quite dangerous for a woman alone." she explained as the man nodded.

"I'd like to be pres-."

Yuri immediately held up a hand and interrupted the man. Her smiles were gone, her kindness had vanished, this companion quickly taking control of the situation. "No." she told him flatly at first, matching his stern look she received in response with one of her own. "What is about to transpire between your son and I is very private, and he and I will be the only witnesses." she told him, as he tried to speak again she held up two fingers to quickly silence him again. "If you wanted a show, you should have gotten yourself a lowly whore, General. As it is, that is not my function. Now if you would please leave, your son and I require privacy."

Her stare into the General's eyes did not waver as he seemed to process what he certainly saw as a rudeness. With a huff he finally turned away and for the door. "As it happens I have business out and about." he stated. "My son is in his quarters, upstairs on the right." he added rather sullenly before turning and walking out the door, only when it shut behind him did Yuri seem to relax for a moment.

Golnax · Post by **Golnax** » Thu May 11, 2017 11:05 am

Aimi was impressed with how Yuri handled the general. If he didn't know any better, he might have assumed that she was actually a professional companion. He was thankful that his hat hid his smile, lest someone see him break his character. He couldn't help it, that the leader of the Water Country's armies was being spoken down to by a kunoichi pretending to be a high class prostitute was comedy gold. He made a mental note to try an find someone in Kirigakure who could put on a bunraku play of the encounter, it would be hysterical! As the general walked past the two of them, Aimi bowed one again, only straightening up once he had made his way past him entirely.

He and Yuri walked inside, the door shutting behind them as they did. He looked around as they walked towards the central stair case, getting a feel for the interior of the building. To their left and right were steep red columns that connected from floor to ceiling, growing shorter as they approached the stairs that lead to the floor above. There were four doors on the ground floor, two on each side, red in color and each one guarded by a samurai in similar clothing as Aimi, minus the hat of course. Where these rooms lead, he wasn't sure. Another question to ask, perhaps. The stairs themselves were wide at the base and grew more and more narrow the more you went up them. A dark green carpet, the color of every green trees, stretched from the door to the stairs and up them, up to where the stairs split off into two separate stair cases, one right and one left.

The two of them walked along this carpet and Aimi remained quiet, keeping his hands inside of his sleeves so as to keep up the air of non threatening. As they rose up the stairs one at a time, the white haired jounin always making sure to stay behind his 'companion', Aimi said quietly, "My lady, perhaps before you begin your duty, I should step into the young mans' quarters and inspect them for danger?" It was a loaded question, just in case anyone was listening to them. He didn't think that there'd be anything in the room that Yuri couldn't handle. Far from it. What he was really concerned with were escape routes and possible points of entry for himself. If he could avoid it, he wanted not to have to burst through the room door should they need to make an escape, nor did he want her to do the same. Having a window for her to jump out of and thus a rendezvous point for the both of them was only logical.

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Mon May 15, 2017 2:42 pm

As they came up the stairs and to the doors they required, Yuri turned to Aimi and nodded. "I see no problem with that, my friend." she replied, looking to the two guards at the door and smiling as she stood there waiting. After a momentary pause the guards seemed to get the hint and both reached for a handle on the double doors and pushed them open for her and her bodyguard. The doors opened to a rather large room, clearly an area for entertaining guests and for reading, there was another door just off to their left that Yuri assumed lead to the bedroom, and standing before them was a young man who had just stood from the couch.

The man looked barely eighteen, dark hair and eyes, and blushing as he stepped forward. "My Lady." she said politely, bowing deeply as he saw Yuri.

Yuri herself smiled gently and returned the bow with one of her own before motioning to Aimi. "I hope you don't mind, my bodyguard would like to do a quick check before he steps out, just part of ensuring my safety."

The man looked at Aimi a moment and stammered before nodding his affirmation, that blush still strong on his cheeks even as Yuri approached him and touched one, causing him to jump. "Don't you worry, love. There is nothing to be embarrassed about." she assured him with a smile, and he tried to nod in return.

Golnax · Post by **Golnax** » Tue May 16, 2017 9:28 am

Aimi stood behind Yuri and eyed the two guards. A couple of samurai, disciplined and rigid. He somehow doubted that they'd leave their post without a direct command from Yuudai Shin himself, which made it all the more important that he find an alternative way into the room if possible. The doors opened and there stood a young man who looked embarrassed to be in his own skin. He couldn't have been much younger than Aimi, but he looked years older than Aimi himself had been when this event happened in his life although the circumstances were quite different. Any worry he might have had about Yuri have any issues with the general's son vanished upon seeing him.

He stood still and watched as Yuri played her part, keeping his eyes on the two guards outside. Without knowing what their orders were, it was difficult to judge what they would and would not allow him to do in the presence of Shin's son. As he nodded, Aimi stepped forward, assuming that any order or permission that he gave would automatically waver the guards' previous orders. He stepped into the open room and immediately began to look around. Aside from a pair of couches, a small table, some book shelves holding books and a rack of scrolls, the room was mostly barren. There were your standard decorations, a rug, lights, a tea set on the table, but other than that it was almost empty, yet orderly. It had an efficiency about it's decoration that could only come from a military household.

There were also no windows, no other doors aside from the one on the left and no ways of entry from the veiling it appeared. That was slightly problematic, as it limited his options for entry. He circled the large waiting room, looking at this and that,more or less admiring the decorations now that he'd seen there was no way into this room aside from the door until he came to the second door on the left. Pulling his arms out of his sleeves, he opened the door and stepped inside, turning on the light. This was the bedroom, or had been converted into one recently. It looked very... not lived in. The bed was made, there wasn't any dresser that he could see. There was a bed side table and on said tale was a burning candle (cute). There was nary a wardrobe or basket for dirty clothes or really anything that suggested that this room was regularly slept in. Perhaps that spoke about the boy's habits more than anything, but he wasn't so sure.

Stepping further into the room, he made his way over towards the north wall were a set of curtains were hung. A decoration piece or...? Reaching up, he pulled the dark blue curtain back and let in some sunlight from the world outside, a window looking down onto the court yard. From his vantage point, he could actually see General Yuudai Shin walking and talking with someone, probably about some political business or maybe how his son was about to lose his V card. Letting the thought and the curtain go, Aimi walked over to the opposite side of the bed where another set of curtains were and, sure enough, another window that he could enter. The courtyard was their entry and exit point in case of emergencies, then.

Aimi stepped out of the room and made his way back to Yuri's side. "I trust that you found everything was in order..." the young man said, obviously not as embarrassed to speak to Aimi as he was to Yuri. He nodded, putting his arms back in his sleeves before turning to Yuri. "My lady," he said, bowing before turning and exiting the room. The two samurai guards reached out and grabbed a hold of the double doors as soon as he was outside of them, shutting the room off to give Yuri and Shin's son some privacy. He stood and faced the two samurai, the three of them quietly and stoically standing there. Aimi's body began to itch all over.

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Tue May 16, 2017 6:37 pm

Yuri stood in silence with her 'new friend' as Aimi did his rounds through the rooms. She watched him go, smiling as he returned and spoke to her. Yuri reached out and touched him gently on the elbow, a touch of the unspoken between their facades. "Thank you, my friend." Was all she said as he stepped out of the room and the doors closed behind him. When she turned to look at the man beside her again she was amused to find him still blushing. It was as if he had forgotten every bit of manners he knew simply because of what was to come. "Please, relax." She said, motioning to the seat before them he had occupied only a moment ago.

"So, how do we..."

As he trailed off Yuri smiled, reaching out a hand to touch his lips. "We get to know one another first, Shinjiro." she assured him, turning to a nearby table and taking a cloth and a bowl of water from it, both items she had sent ahead instructions concerning. She knelt by his feet which were of course bare as they were inside. "Why don't you tell me about yourself, my dear." she said kindly as she rest his foot on one of her knees and wet the cloth in the bowl.

"What're you-." He moved as if to pull his foot away and Yuri sighed, looking up at him.

"A foot washing ceremony is a tradition." she told him. "Rest assured, I have no ill intent on your feet." she added, teasing with a little smile as the man laughed in spite of himself. He returned his foot to her knee and she began to wash it, both chuckling periodically as she inadvertently tickled him as she worked.

Golnax · Post by **Golnax** » Wed May 17, 2017 7:31 pm

While Yuri and the young Shinjiro were getting to know each other, Aimi stood outside with the two guards. Stand was about all they did for several minutes. Stand and stare at each other. Aimi began to itch all over and in an amazing display of will power he managed to stay still. Several minutes seemed to drag by in slow, agonizing gaits even though in reality it was only seconds. The jounin began to feel as though he were sweating. Now that he wasn't having to actively be someone else aside from stand there, he began to feel claustrophobic inside of his clothing. What was worse was that one of the samurai was looking him up and down. Nervousness began to grow within Aimi. Had he done something to give them away already? But what? He starting going over his actions again and again in his head in quick succession, trying to figure out what it could have been as panic and the itching sensation began to rise more and more until -

"Your sandals."

"... What?" Aimi asked.

"Your sandals," repeated the samurai, unhitching his sheathed sword from his belt and tapping the ground in front of Aimi's feet to draw his attention to them. "Remove them."

"Oh... oh!" Aimi said, pulling his hands out of his sleeves and lifting his feet up to remove his sandals. he was so used to walking around barefoot that the custom of taking his shoes off when entering a building never really crossed his mind before. "Please forgive me, I simply forgot, what with escorting my lady to this of all places."

"You would do well to remember in whose house you stand," spoke the other samurai while the other replaced his sword on his belt. "This is Yuudai Shin's personal home. I didn't think that you'd need a reminder."

"You're right. I apologize," Aimi said, bowing his head while holding his sandals in his hand and gritting his teeth. In truth, he was infuriated with the fact that he had to show respect to a couple of samurai of all people. He was a shinobi for goodness sake! His sovereignty was usurped only by three things - the Daimyo, the Mizukage and his house elders, and even then those were only begrudgingly accepted. It bruised his pride to have to bow like this for forgetting something he literally never worried about before today, but all things considered this minor scolding was nothing to worry about. At least the itching had stopped.

Standing up straight again, Aimi undid his belt and slipped his sandals onto it on his right hip, quickly putting the belt back together. Things started to get quiet again, but he was not about to let this momentum pass him by and suffer the return of these itchy clothing! "So, exactly how many samurai does Yuudai Shin have under his employ?" Aimi asked as casually as possible.

"Why do you need to know, bodyguard?" the samurai to his left asked, eyeing Aimi suspiciously.

"I don't," he answered. "It's just going to be a long time before my lady is finished with the master of the house's son, General Shin. We can either spend the time standing and staring at each other, or I can try to keep a conversation going while we wait." His suggestion was a bit of a gamble, one he almost immediately regretted making as soon as it was out of his mouth. In his fervor to get information, he'd forgotten that he was supposed to play the role of a quiet man, not a conversationalist. Not to mention he was gambling that the two in front of him wouldn't mind giving out information to a presumably dishonored, in their eyes, samurai. Fortune seemed to be on his side though as the guard to his right answered.

"Technically, General Shin has every samurai in the nation under his command. Here at his home, the number is somewhere between fifty and one hundred. I couldn't say for sure," he said, perhaps with a twinge of pride himself.

"Oh, so many!" Aimi said, the surprise in his voice only barely emphasized. That was a lot more samurai than he would have been expecting on the property of one man, even if he was a General. Then again, considering said general was attempting to overthrow the Daimyo for himself, it wasn't too surprising. The extra numbers were probably for security. In a way, it was reassuring to hear that there were so many people about. With so many samurai, General Shin must have had something incriminating on the property somewhere. The question was where?

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Wed May 24, 2017 2:32 pm

Yuri took to her task as any companion would, she had enough knowledge to be able to keep up the ruse. There were a couple of moments to laugh and giggle as she tickled Shinjiro's feet in her efforts to wash them. But once they were washed and dried she set to making tea for the pair to share, both sitting on a comfortable lounge. At first the boy was awkward, sitting so close to Yuri, but slowly as the two conversed he became more comfortable. "It must be strange." Yuri began, resting with her back against the couch but legs over Shinjiro's as she sipped at her tea. "You live with your family, your father, but you're surrounded by so many strangers." she added, taking another sip.

Shinjiro himself sat with tea in one hand and the other resting on Yuri's calf. He had moved the fabric of her skirt to be able to touch her bare skin and inadvertently had revealed her entire leg to him. It had caused a good deal of blushing at first but he was slowly getting used to it, though his fingers had still not going higher than her knee. He almost seemed to be studying her, inch by inch and from time to time his blush would wax and wane with his actions. "Strangers?" he asked, looking at her strangely a moment as his fingers paused on her knee. But as Yuri motioned to the doors he simply laughed. "Oh the guards and samurai? They're not strangers to me. I know every name, every family, even siblings." he remarked with a sigh as his fingers ran along the curve of the top of the woman's knee.

"Are they so few then?" Yuri asked, sipping her tea still as she realized his had gone cold in his hand. She had to hide her own smirk as she realized how engrossed he was in his 'study' of her. "I'm not sure I could know so much about them if there were more than a handful."

Shinjiro chuckled and shook his head. "No, there's at least fifty in the main palace here alone." he told her. "I just grew up around them, makes it easier. I had more time with them." he said, a thought suddenly occurring to him as he lifted his eyes to hers and grinned, his hand ceasing its movements to grip the underneath of her knee, bringing a laugh and a giggle from her as her leg twitched and she protested. "Oh that tickles?" he asked, blushing and laughing himself. "Oh sorry, I just thought of something and kinda... grabbed." he said.

"Thought of what?" she pressed, setting her teacup aside and leaning forward as if to eagerly listen, though this put less than a foot between the pair.

"Uh... funny story that I... suddenly forgot." he stammered, staring at her lips as if expecting something. As he stammered Yuri of course picked up on where his mind went and the woman leaned further forward, fingers coming up to rest under his chin as she kissed him gently.

Golnax · Post by **Golnax** » Wed May 24, 2017 3:58 pm

"So it must be tough with the general being on your back twenty-four seven," Aimi said, keeping the conversation going and trying to be as nonchalant as he could be while gathering information.

"It's not as bad as you'd think," the samurai to his left said. "We basically live on a military base, which was where we were trained, so we're used to the atmosphere and demeanor that's expected of you. I would have thought that obvious to someone like you..."

At first Aimi wasn't sure what he meant by his words. It snapped to him quickly though. 'Oh, right. I'm a samurai. I went through the same training as them,' he thought to himself, answering quickly before the moment grew too long. "Things are quite different when you serve to protect only one person instead of an entire household which belongs to a prominent military leader."

"Heh, I imagine so, what with you serving a companion and all," the samurai said, a smirk crawling over his face. He didn't understand in the moment why, but hearing him talk about Yuri like that made Aimi's blood grow warm beneath his skin, and though he kept a calm demeanor, he had to remind himself that he was meant to be stoic. What did he care if they thought less of Yuri anyways? That was helpful to the mission, wasn't it?

"Is Yuudai Shin here at all times?" Aimi asked. "I'm aware that being so close to the Daimyo he would have to leave eventually, but is it fair to say he keeps a close eye on his soldiers?"

"Let me put it to you this way," the guard to Aimi's right said. "When Yuudai Shin is not on the property, he's still on the property. He expects strict, ruthless efficiency from his soldiers at all times, and we of his personal guard are no exception. As he said before, we essentially live on a military base. We know what is expected of us, and we will serve our lord and master faithfully."

Aimi took the answer to heart. Downstairs, when he's contemplated whether or not the guards posted were thugs or samurai, he hadn't thought that he'd get an answer like this (his clothes were too distracting for his mind to be completely lucid). Based on what he'd seen and this answer, he felt that it was safe to assume that every man on this property was a soldier. Somehow, he doubted even the servants such as cooks and janitors were not trained to fight. Suddenly he felt as a lone wolf in a den of lions.

"He must be a cruel master to make himself felt even when he is not here," Aimi commented, trying to keep the line of conversation going.

"Cruelty is subjective. Yuudai Shin is strict and disciplined, as any good military leader should be. We follow his example when he is watching and when he is not. We live and die for him, and the country at large," the guard to his left said, seeming to hesitate on the last part of his statement. Aimi nodded his head in seeming agreement, taking his words to the logical extreme. If Yuudai Shin expected utmost discipline and efficiency from his soldiers at all time, it would be safe to assume that the men in front of him and all around them were no push overs. If a conflict broke out, he and Yuri might have the initial upper hand because of the element of surprise, but their numbers and strength would quickly nullify that advantage, forcing them to flee or die. As much as he hated sneaking around, even if he was disguised and out in the open, Aimi wasn't stupid. Those sorts of odds were unfavorable to both his and Yuri's survival. Above all else, avoiding conflict was key. They needed to get the information that they needed and get out as quickly as possible, without arousing suspicion.

The only question was... where?

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Wed May 24, 2017 4:38 pm

By time the kiss was ended, Shinjiro's blush was up to the tip of his ears and Yuri, even in character for this ruse, couldn't help a bit of a giggle. "See, its not so bad is it?" she asked as she punctuated her sentence with another, lighter, and shorter kiss. This one did not turn to passion but remained just a peck and one of her hands slipped to his as he nodded in agreement. "Now tell me, what is it that has you so shy? Lack of experience, or is there something that actually scares you?" she asked genuinely as she took his hand and led it to rest against the inside of her thigh.

Of course his blush only deepened. "Just... uh... no experience." he managed, swallowing hard as he looked down at the new placement of his hand.

In response Yuri sighed and looked at him a moment. "So you've never snuck around with anyone even?" she asked slyly, watching Shinjiro's expression for a response. "Most boys wind up in a closet with a girl before they come even close to where we are. You can tell me about it."

Shinjiro cleared his throat and nodded. "Uh... there was a girl." he whispered. "She worked in the kitchens and I was thirteen... when my father was out and the kitchens were empty we would sneak off sometimes... but we never did much."

"Where did you go?" Yuri asked, her hand still over his as she moved it to the outside of a hip and she bit at her own lip a bit as she watched his expression.

"Um, there's a room behind the kitchens." He told her. "It's part of a set of old escape tunnels they say... we would sneak back there, sometimes I'd kiss her... but we could never get away long enough to do anything more."

Golnax · Post by **Golnax** » Wed May 24, 2017 6:22 pm

"If this household is run like a military base, then you must take shifts, yes?" he asked, going through his questions one at a time to gain as much information as he could.

"Of course. We will be stationed here throughout the duration of the young master Shinjiro and his companion's time together," the guard to his right stated. Aimi hesitated to ask how often they changed shifts or how long their shifts were, worried that he might make them suspicious with all of his questions. A moment of silence fell between the three of them which was thankfully brief. The guard to Aimi's left asked, "So, why don't you have a katana? Were you disgraced?"

"That's rather rude to ask," the other samurai said, turning his head towards the other guard for the first time since their little chat had began. The samurai glanced back at his comrade before turning back to Aimi. "It's a legitimate question. He may not be a part of the military anymore, but he still serves a master, as does his sword. So where is it? Why are you using that common tool instead of your soul? Do you wish dishonor on your mistress?"

"Ah... well, that's a bit of a story..." Aimi said. He made a quick decision to tell the truth, but not the whole truth. In order to better endear these guards to him and make them more talkative without making them suspicious, he'd tell them a story to catch their intrigue, and while he was telling it, he'd try his best to get more information out of them. A tricky wordscape to navigate, but he thought he could handle it, so long as he was careful with his words. "You're correct in assuming that this isn't my proper sword. It's just a tool I use to protect my lady. My sword, my soul, is sealed away far from here in a deep, deep cave."

"A sword in a cave? Like some sort of legend?" asked the guard on the left. Aimi nodded. "Oh yes, very much so. I found the sword when I was very young with it's blade embedded within the earth, bound and sealed there since time immemorial. When I removed the sword from the ground, the earth below me gave way, and I fell! You see, the sword was powerful, and had been defiantly gorging the earth in which it was sealed for decades. When I woke, I knew that I had to escape, and that the sword needed to be sealed again. I climbed out of the hole, which took me two days, and once at the top, I sought out a blacksmith who made me a sheath made of pure iron. I placed the sword in it's sheath, and put it away in a cave where no one would find it, until I was ready to wield it properly."

"Tsch, what a load of bullshit. Your mother tell that to you at night when you were growing up?" the samurai to his right asked sarcastically, who shortly thereafter let out a yelp as the other samurai reached across the door and punched him in the shoulder. "Show some respect!"

"It is bullshit though! He's making it up for sure," the guard said, rolling his shoulder and glowering at his fellow guard.

"Ah, but it is true. A single swing from this sword could fell armies. Truly the most mighty sword I've ever seen," Aimi insisted. "Even, perhaps, the well disciplined and efficent samurai of Yuudai Shin."

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Wed May 24, 2017 11:39 pm

Yuri couldn't help a bit of a chuckle at the story he told her, and not just because how shy it seemed to make him. "Well, fortunately we don't have to sneak off to some hidden room." she told him as she turned and stood, offering him a hand. It wasn't about helping him up though, it was about leading him away. She walked ahead of him with his hand in hers as she walked out of the common area and into the bedroom, shutting the door behind them. Leading him over to the bed she gave him a small nudge to put him on the edge of the bed, smiling as she saw him swallow hard and watch her rather carefully. "Tell me, why so shy with me then?" She asked as her hands came to rest at the tie on her hip.

"I mean..." The man blushed rather deeply as he thought about it. "You already know I'm a virgin, something my father is completely ashamed of to the point that he had to... well, pay, for me to lose it."

Yuri shook her head. "It's not unusual, Shinjiro."

At that Shinjiro blinked rather hard, staring at her a moment. "It isn't?"

Yuri smiled and shook her head again. "No, men such as you always have so much more on your mind. I saw the books out in your study, your mind is on your studies, you're a man of the written word, not one of action like your father." she explained. "Men of action take what they want, men of written word sometimes don't know how to... and that's okay." She smirked a bit as she undid the tie at her hip. "To be honest, I find a man like you to be far more fun. You're so curious with your learning, that curiosity can apply to this too." she added as her dress fell to the floor in a simple pile of cloth.

Golnax · Post by **Golnax** » Thu May 25, 2017 12:34 am

"Was that a threat?" asked the samurai on the right, eyeing Aimi somewhat suspiciously. Aimi shook his head and held up his hands, despite his initial reflexive response of 'Yes'.

"No,not by any means! Just a bit of blustering!" he assured them.The guard to his left again reached out and punched the other's shoulder, giving him a scalding look and saying nothing, the look in his eyes apparently saying all that needed to be said. "Apologize," he insisted. The other looked back at him just as scornfully, scoffed, and quickly bowed his head to Aimi without saying a word.

"Forgive him. Things have been tense around here as of late, what with the general and the young master being at odds with each other," the guard to his left said.

"Nothing to forgive. Why at odds though? Because of this whole virginity thing?" Aimi asked, putting his hands down.

"... Yes," the guard answered after a moment. It wasn't very convincing to Aimi. Something told him that Shinjiro and his father weren't exactly seeing eye to eye on an entirely different matter, one of national proportions? He couldn't be sure without asking and thus giving himself away as knowing more than he should, but it was a hunch. Hunches were safe to be followed so long as you went about investigating them properly, rather than taking them to their logical end and making assumptions.

Another moment of silence passed between the three of them. Aimi wondered how Yuri was doing in there with Shinjiro. What sort of information was she getting out of him, if she was getting any at all? How far along were they? His mind began to wander towards what it was that Yuri and Shinjiro were doing, and he was surprised to find himself feeling envious of the two of them. Not only were they in some form of undress right about now, bu they were doing so with the intent of hopping on the good foot and doing the bad thing! He'd take that any day over navigated conversation with a couple of samurai while pretending to be one!

His thoughts were interrupted by his stomach, which let out a long, low, deep growl, as though shattering the icy silence between the three of them with a declaration of 'I'm hungry!' No one said anything at first, but it wasn't long before the guard to his left asked, "Hungry?"

"A bit, yes. I haven't eaten since early this morning," Aimi admitted.

"Neither have we. If it weren't for the fact that General Shin has tasked us with giving the young master and his companion some privacy, we'd be changing shifts here shortly and taking a lunch break."

"Would it be against the rules if I were to bring you something to eat?" Aimi asked, suddenly getting an idea. "I could head down to the kitchen and get us something to eat. I'd just need to be told where it was at."

The two guards looked at each other a moment, weighing the pros and cons of Aimi's suggestion. He somehow doubted that them eating while on guard duty was against any sort of training or rules set in place, but then again he was a shinobi, trained to eat whenever and wherever he could afford to and they were samurai, who were trained to do what they were told to do when they were told to do it to the letter. "I... don't think it would be breaking any rules," the guard to his left spoke up again, turning back towards Aimi. "Downstairs, first door to the left leads to the kitchen. Let the guard know that you're getting food for us so he'll let you through. Tell him Yoshida told you to get it."

"Sure," Aimi said, turning away from the door and heading back towards the stairs. He had maybe ten to fifteen minutes to himself at this point, he needed to use it wisely.

Willoria · Post by **Willoria** » Fri May 26, 2017 10:19 pm

The way Shinjiro was staring at Yuri's naked form she was surprised he didn't suddenly sprout a nosebleed. He also seemed to be somewhere between absolute fear and nervous anticipation. Of course all of it made her smile. As hesitant as she had been about this part of the job before, she was now finding it to be rather fun. As she walked over to him at the bed, she put a hand on one shoulder and gently pushed him onto his back as she kissed him gently. She could almost feel him shaking underneath her as she paused a moment. "Relax." she told him quietly, chuckling to herself as he nodded.

She undid the front of his shirt and slid it off of him as she kissed down his chest, Shinjiro's nervousness still obvious. She could plainly see trying to get him to overcome this was going to take some work, and so she paused in what she was doing and rather than pressing forward she took his hands and guided them along her legs and up her sides. "Take your time." she told him before moving off of him.

"What are you doing?"

"You're nervous." She told him as she moved to sit on the bed herself, getting comfortable on her back.

"I know... I mean... you can help, right?"

Yuri tried to smile without being condescending. "I am." she told him. "Take your time, get to know me." she said before nodding towards below Shinjiro's belt. "If you focus on your nerves, he's never going to cooperate."

((OOC: I would advise a timeskip of some kind here. lol))

Golnax · Post by **Golnax** » Sat May 27, 2017 8:05 pm

Two and a half hours passed.

As Aimi had made his way back down the stairs, he took another look at the samurai guarding the door, trying to get a fix on their demeanor. They seemed... uptight to an extent, as though they were trying to hold a performance or something. All four of them that he could see were very rigid, as though they were trying to stand up straighter, to be better for their master General Shin. The other samurai's earlier statement held true then, that Yuudai Shin's presence was felt even when he wasn't inside of the home he owned. As he descended, he thought back to when he saw General Shin outside of his son's bedroom window. He hadn't given it much thought at the time, but he realized now that the person he was talking to was likely a sympathizer - perhaps a financier, or another political official who would help in smoothing things over during the transition of power. He berated himself mentally for not getting a better look at them so that he could report about who they were at the end of the mission.

He gave Yoshida's name when he came to the door to the kitchen and the samurai nodded at him before turning his head back to stare into space. Entering the kitchen, Aimi was met with little gaze and no questions. He could only assume that the people working in the kitchen assumed he was just another samurai, and that, in this household, must have held some weight. While he gathered some food items, purposefully meandering around the kitchen to both extend his stay there so he could listen and find out what sort of food they had in stock, he overheard various bits of conversation. Some was about cooking, some was about he and Yuri, others were more cryptic and spoke in hushed tones with specific words and nuances to the conversation. He listened to these the most intently. He did take note of a singular spice rack which most of the people seemed to outright avoid, if only because there were rare and exotic spices on it that he couldn't understand why they weren't using more of!

After only fifteen minutes of being in the kitchen, he was leaving again, his arms full with three bowls of chicken and corn soup, a meal that, with a bit of help from the help, he'd been able to throw together in no time at all. Out he went and back up the stairs, but instead of turning right where Yuri and Shin were currently exploring one another, he took a left and headed up the opposite stairs, to the other side of the house. Reaching the top of the stairs, he was immediately faced with the choice to follow the corridor to his left which ultimately lead to a wall, or to follow the hall to his right which appeared to lead to a door at the end of the hall. He took the right hand path, if only for the sake of exploration and mapping out the interior of the building.

The right hallway was lined with laminated windows, letting the sunlight shin through the paper thin sliding blinds. To his right were two doors, to what he didn't know. Reaching the door at the end of the hall, Aimi paused, sat down the bowl of soup in his left hand and opened the door, then picked it back up and went through it. The door lead to an outdoor terrace, an upper porch which seemed to stretch around the entirety of the back of the house. Aimi walked over to the railing and looked down, spotting once again General Shin and his companion who were still talking to one another, though about what he couldn't say. They were too far for him to hear at all. He took the chance to also see how many samurai were wandering about outside - quite a few. There seemed to be at least one samurai posted at every door that lead anywhere as well as a couple which patrolled the grounds on the inside. He couldn't see over the wall surrounding the house and the two buildings next to it, but he was willing to bet there were samurai patrolling around the wall as well. As heavily a guarded place as they came.

Turning back and heading the way he'd came, Aimi paused once again at the intersection between corridor and stair and looked ahead of him. Towards the end of the hall was a door with four guards stationed at it. 'Hm. Seems important,' he thought to himself. Turning and heading down the stairs, he looked up just before the door would vanish from his view to get a look at it. On the door was the five water droplet sigil of the Water Daimyo, beneath it the symbol for the water country's military, and beneath that the symbol for Kirigakure. If he were a betting man, he'd say that was General Shin's office, and highly likely to hold some sort of incriminating evidence against him.

Climbing up the opposite stair, Aimi made his way back to where the guards he'd been conversing with were posted. "There you are! Took you long enough," the guard to the right said.

"Sorry, I had a bit of trouble deciding what to get. I suppose I should have asked before leaving," he told them, holding out his right arm for them to take the two bowls he'd been carrying precariously. They ate and they talked, mostly about inconsequential banter but occasionally about something useful. Aimi took the time to learn as much as he possibly could while they waited, faint sounds of a bed shaking and what could have been wither Yuri or Shin's voice muffled by several walls and two sets of doors making their way towards the three men just as occasionally. When they were finished eating, he offered to take the dishes back downstairs if only to take a break from having to listen to a young virgin lose said virginity. Before heading back upstairs to the guards, he quickly returned back to the outdoor terrace, following it around to confirm whether or not it met up on the opposite end, which it did.

Afterwards, he returned to his post and... waited. And talked. But mostly waited. Time crawled onward for him, and by the end of the two hours, he was bored out of his skull...

Naruto Saigen Roleplay