[Graded][Beach Party] Who else to meet?

[Willoria]

Ume wasn't sure how long it had been since her time with Ageha. She had a good time with the girl, even if whatever thing was attached to her gave her the willies. Spirit, Shiin, whatever the girl called it, Ume just wasn't comfortable with it. But her walking down the beach alone now had nothing to do with that. She had wound up talking about Koyama, something she wasn't entirely comfortable with as of yet and it had left her feeling rather ill to tell the truth. She walked along, still in her simple blue bikini that tied at either hip, the top tying behind her neck and lower back. She had since dried off, the light breeze of the beach dancing with her blue hair and her tattoo down her spine almost entirely visible in this setting. Her right hand was up, holding on to a red crystal on a necklace she wore as she spun it in her fingers. From time to time she seemed to mumble into it and she was so lost in thought she didn't even notice what was going on up ahead of her.

Not far from her now was a young man, throwing a stick of some kind for his companion who happened to be a rather large wolf. In reality, neither really got her attention until the wolf launched past her and into the water. The force of his motion and the splash not only got her wet once more but knocked her into the sand on her behind with a shocked squeal of a sound.

[Sanjuro]

Whoever had come up with this whole getting to know you shtick with Kiri at the beach was a genius. Time off in the name of diplomacy was a fantastic idea. He had long since abandoned his uniform in favour of swim trunks with the Iwagakure mountains across his arse and little else. It was a joke gift from his brother that he wore proudly and without shame damn it! Meeting people was fun, but he had an energetic wolf to deal with, so he found himself a nice spot away from incomers for the mess that was about to ensue.

"Alright you big bastard. You want to play, huh? Think you're special because you've been getting bigger? Fine then. We'll play. You need a bath anyway. So…" Kazuo smirked maliciously and picked up the nearest stick he could find, something big and hefty so it wouldn't snap immediately but light enough it would still float. "Go… FETCH!" Rearing back into a pitcher's stance, Kazuo hurled the stick with all of his not so insignificant might over the waves. The amazing brown blur that was his wolf companion vanished over the top, running so fast it cut a path right along the water, and sent some poor girl scattering onto her arse.

Shaking the sand from his face and hair as a result of the explosion when Koji set off, Kazuo started cackling like a maniac as he walked up to the younger woman, a broad grin on his face. She was kind of cute, that swimsuit was sinful, and Kazuo was like 98% certain she was an Akari with that weird colouring. A shudder ran down his spine, he didn't even want to think of what could be done with those weird tentacles, before he reached out a hand, still grinning just as broadly. "My bad, my bad. I kinda forget there are other people here sometimes, hahah! Come on, let me help you up."

[Willoria]

Ume sputtered at the water and sand as she was helped up to her feet though she soon broken into a laugh shortly after as she was pulled up. "It's fine!" she replied, dusting herself off before looking out over the water at the wolf now swimming after a branch. "...He's kinda huge." she added with another laugh before finally turning to look at the man before her and a light blush came across her own cheeks. "Uh... I'm Ume." she said, introducing herself before suddenly realizing she didn't feel right.

The red crystal necklace she wore wasn't there. 'I must've accidentally pulled it off when I fell!'

She swore under her breath and immediately turned to glance around at the sand, dropping to her knees to search the sand frantically for it. "Shit shit shit... where did it go...." She could feel herself almost tearing up as she looked around for it, her last remaining memory of Koyama, unless you counted his shiin she had taken for her own of course.

[Sanjuro]

"Kazuo," he offered with a grin as he helped heave Ume to her feet. "That's Koji. I think I fed him too much, whaddya reckon?" He winked at the girl when he saw her blush and chuckled. He shook out his hair and noticed something incoming out of the corner of his eye. Bracing himself for impact he quickly found himself with an armful of wet wolf and scrunched his nose. "Did you at least find the stick you great brute?" Said stick was immediately used to beat him upside the head. Wincing, he glared at the mutt and let him go, watching as he proceeded to dash off and find somewhere to most likely bury the damn thing.

Turning his attention back to Ume, he watched as she started freaking out and quirked his eyebrow at her. "You okay? You look like you're kind of freakin' out over ther-okay, what?" Ume had dropped to her hands and knees with tears in her eyes like a kid that had lost their glasses in a playground. "Hey, hey, calm down. Whatever the problem is just tell me and I'll help, okay?"

He added in a mutter, "Just please for the love of all that is holy don't cry."

[Willoria]

"I... uh.... its a necklace, with a red crystal on the end..." Ume explained quickly as her fingers dug sifted through the sand to try and find it. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, determined not to let herself cry as she dug for it, knowing the feeling of foolishness that was certain to wash over her later. "Its all I have left of... of someone..." she added with a blush, almost slipping and mentioning her guardian. She had let her guard down around Ageha enough to say it, but knew even then she shouldn't have. Letting on that she had a guardian at any point in time was like painting a target on her back in her clan, revealing she had shiin of value which she couldn't do.

After a moment she paused, closing her eyes a moment and taking a deep breath. 'Getting frantic won't help at all, Ume. Calm yourself...' she reminded herself before opening her eyes and looking up momentarily to see Koji in the distance digging up a rather large hole. She couldn't help a slight smile at the sight, certain she'd laugh over it eventually once she knew where her necklace was.

[Sanjuro]

Kazuo frowned but shrugged. He wouldn't have thought to wear anything loose that could fall off at a beach but he also wasn't about to judge. It was obviously important to Ume, whatever this necklace was. Watching her sift through the sand though made him chuckle and shake his head. There was no way he was doing something like that, especially when he had a far easier means of finding it.

Without waiting for permission, he leant down and sniffed Ume, particularly the area around her neck, and found the faint scent of metal. Focusing in on that unique combination of metal and personal scent, he ignored the more powerful odour that was her trail and focused on searching through the millions of different smells on the beach in search of that unique combination again. "Come on then, this way."

Kazuo cut a path back along the trail she had come, honestly not that far away, and turned off the path slightly and up the beach towards solid land. Sniffing a few more times, he nodded to himself and took off at a jog until he was standing over top of a small ruby. Picking it up, he watched the chain trail from it and turned around to show it to Ume, swinging it around his finger. "This it?" He studied it with a critical eye. "Kind of a clash ain't it? You're all... ya know, blue."

[Willoria]

It took Ume a second to realize what Kazuo was doing, and of course being an Akari as he leaned over her, her mind didn't go anywhere good. With a bit of a yelp she jerked back from him, eyes wide, though her movement was delayed enough for him to still get the scent. The look of bewilderment remained on her face as he told her to follow and she carefully, albeit hesitantly, got up and did so. She was surprised as he led her to it, and the blush returned to her face quickly as he remarked on its color. "It... belonged to a friend." she remarked as she reached out to take it carefully. "Thank you..." She looked at it a moment before slipping the chain back around her neck. "The color is because it has a few drops of his blood in it..." she trailed off, realizing that this was probably an awkward bit of information for even any Akari, but especially so for someone not from her clan.

"He saved my life a few months ago, and aside from his Shiin its the only thing I have left of him." she finally finished, almost rushing her statement as the blush remained cemented on her face. She looked down a moment as she tried to think of a change in subject, not wanting to remain on the depressing facts that had dominated her life and even dropped her into a cycle of drugs for months on end. "Won't your friend... uh... Koji?... be missing you?" she asked finally, awkwardly reaching a hand up to twirl a piece of her blue hair around a finger.

[Sanjuro]

"That's… kind of creepy. I mean, it's nice to have a memento but still… yeah. Sorry for your loss." Kazuo didn't like dealing with heavy emotions at the best of times. He preferred to bottle up his feelings and then beat the ever-loving crap out of whatever happened to piss him off. Shuffling from side to side a little awkwardly, he shrugged and offered a grin. "Well at least you got it back. Ever need to find something you can count on me. I'm good at finding stuff, it's kind of my thing."

At the mention of Koji, Kazuo looked up and down the beach with a slight frown. Gods only knew what kind of trouble that wolf was causing without Kazuo around to keep him in check. "Missing me? No. He's probably celebrating having no one there to tug on his leash. One second please… you may want to cover your ears." Waiting until Ume had done as he suggested, Kazuo sucked in a deep breath and let his eyes flare amber, before roaring loud enough to quite literally shake the ground and push away a wave of sand from around them.

It took all of about three seconds for Koji to come barrelling from up the beach, a small group of people chasing after the giant animal. Looking closer he saw dangling from the wolf's maw was a ridiculous amount of food, obviously stolen, and Kazuo shook his head and grinned. Making a snap decision to try and cheer up Ume and, quite literally, run away from this conversation. "See? Complete trouble maker. Feel like running?" Again without waiting, Kazuo took Ume's hand and smiled a broad toothy grin before taking off in the opposite direction of the mob, laughing all the while, Koji catching up quickly. "Who feels like a picnic!? Hahahaha!"

[Willoria]

Ume couldn't help a sudden little snort at Kazuo's remark about it being creepy. "I guess it is." she said, smiling faintly. "If you knew him though it'd make sense.... weird but... a kind of sense." she added, blushing faintly and silently glad that he took the bait and moved topics on to his wolf friend. She gave him a strange look of course as he told her to cover her ears, but regardless she did as she was told, one hand over either as she waited. She was shocked at what came next from the man, having never heard anything quite like that from anyone before. 'So... does he have some bit of that wolf in him then? What an odd ability... of course I suppose most think cannibalism is odd too...' When he was done she lowered her hands and turned to see Koji come running towards them and Ume was rather shocked at the amount of food he seemed to be carrying too.

"Running? Why would we - oh!" She tried to question the running, but next thing she knew Kazuo had taken Ume by the hand and, despite the blush coloring her cheeks once more, she turned and ran with him. As the shock wore off and she realized she was simply running beside Kazuo, and his wolf, and she couldn't help a laugh as they ran to keep ahead of the mob, laughing even harder at Kazuo's comment about a picnic.

"You two always this crazy?" she asked, quickly realizing that the two were outpacing her. She had maybe half their capabilities in speed and for a moment she wondered if she was about to be left in the dust.

[Sanjuro]

"I mean, usually, yeah. Hahah! C'mere, Koji!" The wolf bound across to them in two huge leaps, running pace alongside the duo. Kazuo looked at Koji, smirked, and looked back at Ume. "How do you feel about trying something really fun?" He jerked his head at Koji and the wolf almost nodded in response, suddenly dropping back behind Ume and lunging forward and down, scooping her up over his head and onto his back. "Hold on!"

The wolf took off like a shot, powerful muscles taking him from a trot to maximum speed in a heartbeat. A series of whistles from Kazuo directed the wolf to change course and bound from the main beach to a cliff that looked out over the ocean, leaping from rocky outcrop to rocky outcrop. Kazuo wasn't far behind them, only catching up because he cheated and used chakra to run straight up the cliff instead of following Koji's more entertaining path. Upon reaching the top, Koji would sit and wait patiently for Ume to get off, dropping the food he had absconded with, while Kazuo would grin like a lunatic at the young woman.

"Man, I love this place. It's a pity we go back to work soon." He turned to stare out at the horizon and the vast expanse of ocean. "Aint it just something else?" Taking a deep breath, he sucked in the salt air and let out a long sigh, his muscles relaxing after the sudden and intense run. Looking at Ume, he smiled with a little less mania in his eyes. "Who knew diplomatic missions could be this fun, huh?"

[Willoria]

Ume wasn't sure what to make of the question, she already wasn't sure his definition of fun met hers, terrifying maybe, but fun? Next thing she knew his companion had pretty much scooped her up as she yelped in shock. At first she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his fur, terrified of the speed the animal was moving at. But as things continued she soon find her hands buried in his fur, but she was raised slightly off him as he ran. She found she even enjoyed the wind in her face though she could barely process the scenery they passed. By time they got to the top she was all smiles and laughs, getting off the wolf when he came to a stop. She paused a moment, scratching him behind an ear with a smile. "Thank you, no way I could have kept up with ya'll." she told him, chuckling as she turned towards Kazuo.

She walked over and stood beside him, looking down at the view. "It is beautiful here." From this view she could still make out the speck that was probably Ageha still swimming, and further down though she couldn't see him was probably the Kiri shinobi known as Tenshi that she had met. She found herself agreeing with Kazuo. "I've met mostly people from my own village, but it is fun." she admitted. "Only one from Kiri I met kinda had a stick up his ass... at least at first." she added, chuckling a bit as she remembered how playful Tenshi had gotten when he finally started to relax.

'This place is oddly healing too...' She touched the necklace she wore again though only to check it was still there. Her pain of the last few months were strangely something she couldn't recall directly, but the pain seemed so much lessened by this place. "Shame Iwa doesn't have a beach... though I suppose if it did it'd be frozen." she couldn't help a chuckle and shrugged. "Definitely makes me value my hotspring more though."

[Sanjuro]

"Iwa has a great many things going for it. The weather ain't one of them, that's for sure." Kazuo snickered but hummed in agreement. "Hotsprings are one of the greatest sources of joy in this world. The fact that it sounds like you have a personal one makes me just a little jealous." Kazuo quirked an eyebrow in her direction, his lips tugging in a half-frown half-smile that showed he was speaking in jest… mostly. "I guess belonging to a clan has to come with some perks, right?"

Moving away from the cliff edge, Kazuo picked up the basket of food that Koji had snatched and started rummaging through it. It took half a second to find the long ring of sausages that the cretin had probably been looking for before he was discovered and tossed them all to the wolf, throwing them high and forcing him to jump up and catch them. "So in our ill-begotten gains we have a choice of… well, fruit. The only meat they had I just gave to that greedy bastard. Sorry." He turned around and held out a persimmon for Ume, ripping into another with his teeth and spitting out the skin so he could get to the flesh.

"Can't say I've met a whole lot of people I could name. Some weirdly pasty guy in a lab coat that looked like he wanted to kill someone instead of being here had a weirdly intent interest in Koji, so I avoided him like the plague. Other than that, no real standouts." Kazuo shrugged. "I'm just glad for an excuse to leave the village for something other than hunting down something and killing it. Don't get me wrong, I love a good scrap, but it's nice to do a bit of exploring without knowing I'm on a mission of importance or somethin', ya know?"

[Willoria]

Ume couldn't help a snort of laughter as Kazuo spoke of the clan being a perk. Immediately she cleared her throat and shook her head to try and compose herself. "Not at all. I actually live off clan grounds, my guardian thought it was too dangerous to live in the clan compound. He was always worried I'd just end up someone's meal and honestly he probably wasn't wrong. For the moment I still live off clan grounds though the elders weren't happy about it..." Ume trailed off though this time not because she was talking about Koyama. It was more because she was talking so freely about clan matters, and things she normally kept to herself.

For a moment she chewed on her bottom lip as she tried to think of a subject change, but then Kazuo started going through the food. She caught the fruit he tossed to her and frowned, though not because he gave the meat to his wolf. She much preferred sweets over fruit or veggies. She kept it in her hands as Kazuo spoke and shrugged. "Lets see... I met some boy who seriously had a stick up his ass... though he did relax after a bit. He was cold though." she said with a bit of a chuckle. "Like... physically. He touched me and I swear it was like ice. It was weird." she added quickly to explain herself.

"Yeah I'm kinda glad to be away from everything. The last few months have been some kind of hell for me so its good to just get away for a bit..." she remarked, feeling the pain pull at her briefly before she shrugged it off. A thing made easier to do by simply not being at home. Here she wasn't surrounded by the home she had once shared with Koyama, or places where she had once spent time with Tatsuo or Kotaru. Here there was just her and whoever was nearby. "You two seem close." she remarked suddenly, motioning to Koji as she looked at Kazuo. "And that roar earlier, you two bound in some way or something?"

[Sanjuro]

"Bound? Nah, not really. I can just yell really damn loudly, and he knows who the boss is, even if he doesn't like to admit it." Kazuo snapped his fingers and Koji came trotting over, Kazuo quickly grabbing the wolf by his face and scratching behind his ears lovingly. "Suppose it's bound to happen after ten years. Should have seen him as a pup. Cute little thing but good gods was he ever a pain in the arse to train. Stubborn as an old mule, aren't ya buddy?" Koji barked in agreement, and if it was possible for a wolf to look cocky then Koji definitely looked cocky in that moment.

He wondered what it was like, living in constant fear of being eaten. He'd heard rumours, of course, that Akari were cannibals. He'd constantly just passed it off as a running joke, maybe one of them in the past had bitten someone in a fight and it just became a thing. But if what Ume was saying was true… a little shudder ran down his spine. As if that clan wasn't creepy enough already. Turning back to Ume, he offered a smile to cover his initial reaction to that new revelation. "So, you have a place of your own, huh? Must be interesting, to live alone so young. I still don't have my own place, technically, though I barely get to sleep in my own bed these days. Between regular missions taking me out of the village and training for Jousai, I barely have the energy to make it home and just crash at the Jounin's barracks most nights."

[Willoria]

Ume smiled as she watched the two interact, silently wondering what it was like to have such a strong bond with an animal. 'Maybe I should consider an animal companion for awhile... without Koyama... or anyone... its going to get lonely fast...' She knew of course that the loneliness was hitting her hard already, but even she wasn't ready to admit that yet, not to anyone else and not to herself even. She'd watch the pair before her interact, reaching a hand towards Koji just to see how he'd react. If he'd let her she'd give him another scratch behind the ear, if not she'd simply shrug and go back to paying closer attention to what Kazuo had to say.

"I'm still getting used to the alone part." she admitted, once more touching the red necklace she wore. "My guardian picked the place out originally. We each had our own separate bedrooms, kitchenettes, bathrooms, but then had a huge common area in the middle with a larger kitchen and all that. There's even the hotspring and a garden. It's nice..." she glanced over and saw the look that was likely on Kazuo's face at the description and shrugged. "Apparently the people we bought it from couldn't afford it and sold it at less than half it was worth. Now that he's gone I've inherited it and was able to pay it off... I'm still getting used to the quiet."

The quiet was exactly why it felt so lonely to her already. Koyama often had a different woman any night he was home, there were a lot of things the young woman had learned to tune out during her time with him. But her thoughts were broken when it suddenly hit her what Kazuo had said and the girl visibly bristled. 'Jousai...' She had heard the name in passing, and only recently come to find out it was an org Tatsuo and his friends were heavily involved in... if she wasn't mistaken, they ran it. A project she hadn't even heard of directly from them and the thought brought an entirely different kind of pain to mind, just another thing to bury and shove down deep in her mind and try to forget about.

"You should visit me." she said suddenly, turning and grinning at Kazuo. "I just got back after a few months away after all, been thinking I should some kind of party at the place anyway..."

[Sanjuro]

The wolf wouldn't protest the touch, satiated by food in his belly and a day full of exercise and trouble making. Kazuo smiled at the display, it wasn't often he didn't have to step in when someone went to touch Koji. Ume just happened to pick the right time of the right day. Stepping past the duo, closer to the cliff edge, he leant out over the side with chakra keeping him from falling and watched the people walking along the beach below. He wouldn't admit it any time soon, but he had a habit of people watching whenever he could. You could learn a lot about people from how they acted when they thought no-one was watching; combine that with Kazuo's super nose and he could figure out what most people where thinking before they themselves did.

Speaking of which.

Kazuo's nose twitched at the reaction to the Jousai. Seriously, did this girl have a problem with everything Kazuo happened to bring up? He fought back a sigh and forced a smile, wondering what he could talk about that wouldn't set her off. The weather maybe? "Ah, maybe. An old timer like me might get cranky with all you youngsters and your new fandangle parties." Kazuo chuckled and shook his head, it seemed like everyone he met was younger than him. "Sounds like a lot of space for one person though. You should consider a roommate. Or a pet. Koji is a giant pain in my ass but he's good company…" he looked at the giant wolf who was busy licking himself and shook his head, "usually."

He swirled the persimmon seeds around in his mouth and began spitting them out towards the waves, seeing how far he could get them to go. "So what is it you do, Ume? An Akari living away from the clan compound by herself. You must get into mischief of one kind or another. Any fun stories to tell? Gods know I've got loads of 'em. This one time I spent an entire mission in the underground forest hunting down some supposedly rabid killer animal that had been eating animals. Turned out to be some kid's missing pet cat. How that thing was killing animals, I have no idea, but there ya go. Weirder shit I have seen, but not by much."

[Willoria]

Ume snorted again, though this time at Kazuo referring to himself as an old timer. "My guardian was older than you and partied harder than I ever have." she said with a laugh, shaking her head. "I probably should get a roommate... but kinda torn between the quiet and having someone there. Koyama always had a different girl over, I keep thinking maybe it'd be nice to be myself awhile. But then maybe..." Ume shook her head, determined not to admit to any kind of loneliness still. She looked over at Koji and grinned at the wolf, reaching over for another scratch behind his ear. "Maybe he can be my roommate when he needs a break from you." she teased, sticking her tongue out at Kazuo.

She watched Kazuo spit the seeds out, glancing down at the persimmon still in her hands as he spoke and the girl just shrugged. "Aside from soaking in my fantastic hot spring?" she asked, grinning at the man. "Honestly? I read, or cook, or train." she shrugged, laughing at his story about the cat. "That must have been a hell of a cat... but sadly I don't really have any good stories. I used to try and dodge Koyama, back when I still lived with my father. I was hard to keep an eye on for any guardian really, made it hell on him. But thats the most interesting things have really gotten."

Of course that was a lie, but what she really meant was that was the only good thing in her life that was interesting that had happened. Of course she could have told him about how as a child her mother tried to consume her and went mad. Or about how her father beat her and Koyama saved her from him. How Tatsuo was the first to take his own interest in her. How her father went mad with plague and melted before her and Tatsuo's very eyes. How she had that plague and turned it into her own jutsu....

...and all that was only the start.

But none of it was good per se.

[Sanjuro]

"Hah! You can have the big lug! Here that, Koji? You're being sold off." The wolf merely snorted and proceeded to lay down and bury his nose under his paws, pleased with all the attention he was getting. "And that's the only way to treat a guardian. If they aint bein' kept on their toes, you aint doin' your job as a happy and healthy kid." Kazuo nodded sagely, as if he were some great guru dishing out worldly advice. "Still, sounds like he was interesting guy. I would have liked to have met him, I get the feeling we'd have hit it off, heh."

Turning away from the cliff, he grinned at Ume. She was an interesting character, that was for sure. Complicated, burdened with… guilt and sadness. Anger as well, though that seemed less related to her minder and more to his mention of Jousai. Problems with someone in the organization? Probably. Despite his easy-going nature, Kazuo did have a knack for finding out people's problems and trying to help with them. He wasn't about to move in with her, of course, but maybe if he saw her in the village again after today, he'd stop by and see how she was doing. For everything, she seemed kind of lonely. His nose twitched, and he smiled a little more softly. "So, what are your plans for the rest of the day, Ume?" He cocked his head to the side and glanced out at the horizon, the sun beginning to set over the waves. "What little there is left of it, that is. I'm sure there is a beach party going on somewhere we could crash."

[Willoria]

As Koji laid down and buried his nose under his paws, Ume couldn't help a bit of a giggle, shifting so that she was sitting directly next to the wolf as she continued to scratch behind his ears and down his back for as long as the wolf would allow. At the first sign of trouble she'd likely stop. As Kazuo said he would have liked Koyama, Ume couldn't help a smile. "He probably wouldn't have liked that you pulled me into thieving with you." she remarked, smirking up at him and even sticking her tongue out at him. "But he woulda gotten over it quick the moment he knew you weren't Akari." she added. "He's always hated our clan, mistrusted every member. I guess he had an ex he was serious about that tried to rip one of his shiin out of him, so can't say I blame him."

She shrugged of course as Kazuo asked about her plans for the rest of the day. "I've honestly just kinda been winging it." she admitted. "I haven't had much of a plan since I got here... the only plan I had was to try and enjoy myself after the months I spent gone recently." She shrugged and looked at Koji. "You look warm and I really want to snuggle up with you but I don't wanna get bit." she admitted out loud with a chuckle to the animal, shaking her head at her own somewhat childish desire.

[Sanjuro]

Kazuo shrugged. "If some of the rumours about you folk're true then I aint surprised he hated the clan." The Akari were a weird lot, tolerated by the village, not truly ostracized but not fully accepted either. They just had an air about them that was off-putting, not to mention the stories of bloodsport and cannibalism added to that. It was enough to make a grown man shudder. And Kazuo did exactly that. "No offence meant or anythin'." He tried not to judge an individual person by their people. People were idiots. A person could be great. Just had to take the time to figure it out.

Turning to look out over the beach, he spied the beginnings of a bonfire and people started to congregate to that spot. Smiling, he turned back around and walked over to Ume and Koji, kneeling down and clearing his throat to get the wolf's attention. Hunching his shoulders ever so slightly, Kazuo's presence began to show itself and he stared into Koji's eyes, his own glowing amber in colour. "Stay with Ume until she tells you otherwise or I come get you, understood?" His voice carried a lot more than the mere sound of the words and Koji bowed his head in complete submission. Standing back up and brushing off his swim trunks, he grinned at Ume. "I'm gonna go see what is going on at that party down there. You can come with, if you want. Or you can stay up here and use that big lug as a pillow. He'll do as he's told. Just tell him to come find me before the night is over, yeah?"

Walking over to the cliff edge, he reached up to the first twinkling star he could see and sucked in a huge breath before sighing as loudly as he could. Spinning around so he was standing with his back to the edge, his smile broadened. "It has been a pleasure to meet you, Ume of the Akari. If ya ever need anything, come find me. I'm always happy to help my friends." Lifting his hand into a salute, he winked at the girl. "Seeya." He leaned back ever so slightly and let gravity take over, pulling him off the cliff and down to the ocean below.

[Willoria]

"None taken." Ume admitted, shrugging. "Being born into it doesn't mean I like it either... I'm not happy about what I'll have to do to survive." Her own statement brought a slight frown to her face though it wasn't entirely a mood killer. She just knew that she missed going to the Arena as a Chunin by sheer fluke. With her promotion around the corner, she knew she couldn't avoid it this time. She had planned on asking Kotaru and Tatsuo for help training before hand, but given recent events she felt like she'd have to go it alone, or find someone else. The latter option didn't seem smart, though neither did the first.

She watched quietly as Kazuo spoke to Koji, smiling a bit at the statements as she realized Koji would be staying with her. She smiled down at the wolf briefly before nodding at Kazuo's remarks. "I'll come down soon, I just need to take a minute." she admitted, her mind starting to become a flurry of thoughts she was still trying to bury after her mind had wandered to the Arena.

She watched as he smiled and as he let himself drop off the cliff and the girl shook her head before looking at Koji. "Your friend is a little nuts." she told him. "Good looking... but nuts..." she chuckled as she leaned down and rest her cheek against Koji's fur, laying there for a few moments. "Don't tell him I said this, but I think I like your company more anyway." After several minutes of laying there, just enjoying the presence of the animal beside her she took a deep breath and stood. "Come on, lets head down."