[Closed] Scrolls Are Not Firewood

[ShinobiTruth]

It had taken Okita some time to ascertain the true nature of the ancient creature he had contracted with. He still keenly remembered the sensation he’d experienced when he first touched it. It was nothing physical. He could hardly even call it a chakra reaction, either. No, it was… something else. It wasn’t pulling anything out of him, but rather… it was pushing something in? Like a separate influence had been trying to enter his body. It had only been with a momentary flash of maroon chakra on his part that the creature had been repelled and he’d been able to finish the contract.

He hadn’t been able to sleep much since that night, and it hadn’t been for the same reasons that normally stole rest from his eyes. That day had been on his mind since he returned. He’d been ordered to rest by his parents for four days (his mother was a nurse), but he had been well enough after the first night. For the last three days, he’d been pondering his experience, trying to understand what exactly had happened. The worst thing one could do to Okita was give him time to think without concrete ways to sate his curiosity. Today was the first day he was allowed out since his return, and he planned to use it well.

Possibly to the amazement of everyone else who might know him, however, he did not go to the library. This was the start of his next line of research. First rule of research: start with primary sources if possible. He buried his considerable pride and went stalking the streets looking for her. That woman. She’d been at least partly responsible for his safe return, as much as they despised each other. He’d start with her, looking first for the restaurant her master had been at originally. Perhaps she might be be there.

[Willoria]

Souta was finally testing out part of his menu. To say Hajime Yasu was happy about it was a severe understatement, she was downright overjoyed. The restaurant itself was still closed, and looked as such. But the girl herself was sitting outside the front at one of the several tables that would eventually serve as outdoor seating, under the only umbrella that had been expanded out, with a bento box in front of her. There were two others beside her that hadn't been opened yet. She sat with chopsticks in hand, enjoying the sushi from the main compartment of her bento box quietly. Souta was likely inside the building, though Yasu seemed to be alone for the moment.

When she looked up and saw Okita coming towards her however, she couldn't help a raised eyebrow, sighing quietly as he came closer. She set the chopsticks aside on her bento and crossed her arms, leaning them on the table in front of her. "Vegetable or chicken?" she asked him briefly. Whichever answer he gave, she'd take one of the two boxes and set it in front of the seat beside her for him.

[ShinobiTruth]

Okita's eyes quickly found the iconic black garb of his most ornery matchstick compatriot. He had not forgotten that it was due to her quick thinking that he'd been able to separate from the creature down in the buried tomb they had discovered, but his mind was far more focused on the nature of the creature. His eyes didn't break from hers, even as he approached, and it would be easy enough to tell that he had a question of his own burning in his eyes. It was nothing of the simplicity of bento boxes, of course, and just as he was about to open his mouth, he stopped as he looked at the boxes. Okita thought to point to one of them for a moment, but he shook his head almost as if to eject the idea from his head. "That creature. The maroon chakra. What... what was that?" he asked pointed, his voice much more intense than he'd spoken even when they were going through the tomb.

This was arguably the most serious she'd seen Okita. They'd only had two outings, but even in their search for the nest of the summon he'd contracted, there had been a flippant joy and confidence in his voice. There was an aloof undertone, a coy charm to his words as they slid from his lips with the grace of a viper. Now, there was none of that. There was a fierce interest, a hunger, for something that he clearly didn't understand. And if there was one thing he hated, it was not understanding something. A mystery unsolved was an insult to his very being as a scholar, and he would not rest until it had been thoroughly researched and studied.

"I've pushed chakra through other creatures before. This wasn't that." he continued, immediately beginning to pace as his mind raced through empty possibilities, each of them winding up short. The frustration on his brow was palpable, let alone visible. "That wasn't chakra, that wasn't a physical intrusion into my flesh, that was... something else. What did it try to do to me?" he asked, stopping as his green eyes bore into her embers, knowing damn well she had the answer.

[Willoria]

Yasu sighed as he asked the question, frowning for a moment as she looked at the boxes herself. She pointed to one, and then the other, and then back again. If he recognized what she was doing it was easily seen for what it was. 'Eenie... meanie.... minie.... moe...' After a moment she simply picked a box and set it where she had expected him to sit. But of course moments later he was still talking, and even pacing. The woman frowned and picked up a cup of chilled honey and green tea she had sitting nearby to sip on it a moment as she thought about how to answer him. She'd spare a glance towards the restaurant, knowing full well that Souta could explain this far better than she could. She also knew she should probably ask him for permission first, but somehow she knew Okita wouldn't wait for Souta to come out.

The woman looked up at him a moment before motioning to the chair. "Sit, Okita." she told him seriously. It was an unfamiliar tone for her as well. She wasn't used to being all kinds of serious, she much preferred to keep sass in her tones, keep things light to some degree. But this subject wasn't that. "The maroon chakra is known as Tenkujutsu... it's specifically meant for dealing with spirits, with the non-physical. Myself, Rokuro, we're specially trained in it. It's Souta's area of expertise on the Council even, he chooses who gets specially trained on this, he holds all the knowledge on it." she admitted, sighing again before taking a sip and frowning. "That thing wasn't a physical intrusion no.... it was a spiritual one... honestly I don't know much much I'm even allowed to tell you. But now you know why Souta wanted us with you. In case that happened... so we could keep it from getting worse."

She looked at Okita a moment and motioned to the bento she'd put in front of him. "You really should eat... recovering from something like that, it takes time. Takes a lot out of you, mentally, physically, even more..." The woman didn't crack a smile once as she spoke.

[ShinobiTruth]

Had Okita been less caught up in his own thoughts, he probably would have rolled his eyes at the playful game of probability Yasu was playing, but his mind was too absorbed in the topic at hand to pay it any mind. Okita's eyes darted between the chair, her eyes, and the chair again before he finally took a seat. This feeling of stillness was immediately uncomfortable, given his agitation, but he had to endure it. He remembered the last time her eyes had been that serious. He still remembered the smell of burned cloth and singed cotton from the very first day they met. It seemed that she was actually intent on giving him information instead of dangling a carrot before him only to strike him with the rod. Tenkujutsu. Spiritual incursions. Meant for spirits. The gaze in his eyes softened as the new knowledge quickly acclimated and fell into their proper places, almost like a puzzle. "Spiritual... Non-physical... But everything comes from chakra. So then..."

He didn't pay heed to her directions to eat, not yet anyway. So this was a special type of jutsu used to interact with spiritual lifeforms. So that meant the creature he was contracted with was a spirit. Okita concentrated chakra into the palm of his hand, a small mote hovering slightly over his skin. He recalled the fundamental lessons of ninjutsu he studied in the academy. Chakra was the combination of physical and spiritual energies into a potent energy source. All jutsu, even taijutsu at higher levels, relied on the use of chakra for shinobi to be effective in their work. This was an iron-clad rule... or was it? Was that the secret of Tenkujutsu? Sealing specialists were often coveted by the village for the sake of sealing the Genma. There had been too many introductions to the constantly recycling hosts for him not to know about it, and given the massive amount of chakra those phantoms could control... Okita had always wondered about the secrets behind those rituals. Was this one of them?

He focused on the orb in his hand. It was tiny, no bigger than a small coin in diameter. Doing his best to relax his body, Okita tried to concentrate, repeating a family prayer over and over in his head. If his suspicion was correct, he had to separate the physical forces of chakra from the spiritual. He had to harness spiritual energy alone. Could he do it at his current skill? He sat for a solid minute as nothing happened. Then, slowly, the orb in his hand shifted from blue to purple. His eyes widened, and he got excited, but a sharp pain rang through his head, and the chakra dispelled. "Damn it... I suppose that's harder than it looks," he muttered. Still, for a split moment, he felt the spiritual forces of his chakra start to split from the physical. He couldn't be certain, but Okita suspected he was on to something.

[Willoria]

Yasu didn't say a word for several moments, simply watching the boy work through whatever he was going through in his head. She even watched as he held out his hand and focused on an orb of chakra. She tilted her head and watched, curious as to what he might achieve. She was surprised to see the colors of it shift, but she could almost see the pain go through him as well. She sighed quietly, trying to keep it to herself before reaching over and putting a hand over his in an attempt to draw his attention. "You don't have to learn everything on your own you know." she told him quietly. Her hand cam up and two fingers briefly touched under his chin to try and draw his gaze over towards her face as she gave almost half a smile.

"If you want to learn Tenku, I'll teach you." she told him simply. "I know enough to shackle and restrain them... even communicate with them... and more." she explained. She dropped her hand down over his, giving his hand a light squeeze. "Look, Okita. I suspect you're the type that prefers to learn on your own but this... this can get you into some deep shit, some really bad shit, really fast. You should have someone guide you. If you're that determined to learn it, I'll just teach you. Better that than risk you getting hurt in the process. I'll ask Souta's forgiveness for not getting permission first later... honestly he'll probably agree with me anyway. He's more about safety of his peers anyway."

[ShinobiTruth]

The headache that came with his untrained attempt at separating the spiritual from the physical had not been what he'd expected. It was brief but powerful. This hadn't even been a successful attempt. What kind of mental strain did it put on someone who could actually use the art? He tried to imagine what that meant and failed. It was something he simply couldn't know without experiencing it for himself. He thought about where he needed to start. He'd certainly need a lot of chakra. He'd also need to work on his control, most certainly. Almost immediately he started planning his next course of action...

...That was, before Yasu offered an unexpectedly tender gesture. The sensation of her fingers softly pulling his chin up would have been insulting had the look in her eyes not been so... relatable. She clearly knew something about his constant thirst for knowledge. He had to admit he was surprised, especially with the soft squeeze of his hand. This... This was not the same person who had nearly set him on fire, right? And now she was offering to teach him Tenkujutsu? This didn't seem like a ploy or a bluff. She seemed to mean what she said... including about the dangers that studying these arts came with. Now that specific part?

That excited him.

He couldn't help the smirk. "...Thank you," he replied, for both the gesture and the offer. That eager glint had returned to his eyes just as his stomach gurgled audibly, which caused his eyes to drop to his gut. "Ah. Food. Right." Reaching forward, he took the bento that had been extended to him. He wasn't a picky eater. He was certain that whatever was in the box would suffice.

[Willoria]

Yasu kept her had over Okita's for several moments as she watched him for his reaction, silently hoping he wouldn't be stubborn over something like this. She breathed a sigh of relief when he thanked her. His smirk made her wonder, but she was certain he was taking this seriously though was perhaps just excited at the prospect of new knowledge. She gave his hand a light squeeze, and without thinking lifted his hand to her lips, brushing his knuckles against them briefly before she finally released it and went back to her food with a sigh. She took a sip of her tea and picked up her chopsticks to start picking at her food again. She practically heard Okita's stomach growl and chuckled. "Don't worry, Souta's food won't disappoint. Especially in a desert." she assured him.

When he opened the box he' find he'd been given the chicken option. There was a small serving of teriyaki chicken in one corner, some simple spring rolls, a bit of fried, and even a couple of orange wedges for cleansing the palate between options. But the real features were the two servings of sushi, about six servings of tuna and six servings of salmon. It all appeared very fresh, likely made that morning from fish specially chosen from the water source behind the restaurant.

Yasu finally paused in her own eating to look over and gauge Okita's reaction for a moment, curious to see how he'd like it.

[ShinobiTruth]

Any other person would have perceived that gentle squeeze and the feeling of Yasu's lips upon his knuckles as what it was: a demonstration of an unlikely but budding affection. Most people would likely be drawn to her silken raven hair, her startlingly fair skin, perhaps those embers that rest within her eyes. Perhaps someone who was inclined to reciprocate would return the gesture if they were bold enough.

'...Weird. But it's harmless, so eh. Now, food.'

...Yeah. Okita was definitely not most people. If learning to read women was a skill one could train, Okita was officially level one. His features were largely unchanged even after he seemed to register what had just happened, his attention now captured by the box that he had originally ignored. Taking the chopsticks that had been included in the box, Okita didn't hesitate to dig in with gusto. Perhaps this wasn't a trait for all researchers, but the genin clearly didn't eat too many meals in the presence of others, a grain of rice already stuck to the corner of his lips. He usually took his food to his room, too busy with comparing and compiling notes from his research to waste time sitting down with his family. As would be expected from a restaurant financed by a bannin, the food was all premium, and though he didn't fuss over the details, it was clear that Okita was enjoying the food.

His disgraceful manner of eating aside, Okita was a remarkably quiet diner. There were no words, no distractions. He was focused entirely on the food now that his curiosity (for the moment) had been sated. The days of resting had likely not come with too much food; his appetite was appropriately voracious considering the mission and what it had entailed. His emoting largely came from his eyes, proceeding through the box with an analytical, almost strategic gaze, deciding which component he would try next.

[Willoria]

Yasu fell quiet as well, nibbling on her own food until it was gone. It wasn't long, most of it was nearly gone anyway, she'd been eating on it for a bit before Okita had joined her after all. She reached up and pulled her hood down, revealing her hair in full before she pulled it all over to one side and letting it fall over one shoulder with a light sigh. She leaned back in her chair and enjoyed the feel of the shade and sun both, her eyes closed and tea in hand as she sipped on it lightly. "I bet you were bored as hell when you were forced to rest up." she suddenly commented with a chuckle, barely hearing the approaching footsteps.

But she could almost feel the extra shadow fall over them as Souta approached. "So, How is it?"

Yasu opened her eyes and looked up at him. "I'd never tried sushi before, really good honestly." she replied. "The rest is honestly as good as you can get about anywhere else..." she trailed off a moment, suddenly blushing.

Souta just laughed. "At least you're honest, but the sushi is going to be the real draw so that's good to hear." He turned his attention to Okita. "Looks like Yasu had you try some too huh? What did you think?"

[ShinobiTruth]

Okita was very engaged with his food, but Yasu’s statement about being bored while on bed rest struck a chord with him. His response was a visible roll of his eyes. Even without speech, it was clear what he was saying: ’Woman, you don’t have the faintest idea.’

The conversation between Souta and Yasu he more or less ignored, too busy polishing up his food. Despite his slight frame, Okita could put away an impressive amount of food at an equally impressive pace. As Souta finally directed his questions to the genin, Okita polished off the last of the food and unceremoniously chugged the last of the tea. In arguably the most stereotypically male thing he’d done in front of the pair, he leaned back and, holding up a finger to request the wait, he paused, focusing on something. Then, a single firm polite burp drifted from his throat, clearly a sign of approval as it was accompanied by a thumbs up.

Okita was clearly not a graceless man, but he seemed to also be selective in when and where to follow those graces. He didn’t know how Souta would react to his seal approval, and he wasn’t particularly sure if he cared.

[Willoria]

While Yasu dropped her forehead into her palm at Okita's "compliment", Souta simply started to laugh. "Pretty sure that's the same compliment Sakaki gave me the first time I cooked for her too." he replied, still laughing and shaking his head before turning to go back inside to tend to other duties in the restaurant. The man seemed to be setting up his final plans on the place, fine tuning his menu and there was likely a great deal of work left to do.

Yasu just shook her head and looked at Okita with a frown. "Really? What, were you raised in a barn?" she asked Okita before rolling her eyes and leaning back in her chair again. She sighed and watched Okita for a moment, thinking about the mission the other day again and everything she saw. She thought for a moment she'd seen genuine fear from him, but now there wasn't a hint he could even feel such a thing. "You so... odd. You know that?"

[ShinobiTruth]

Okita simply nodded in kind to Souta’s observation. He could have offered a plentitude of observations and critiques, but he sensed that perhaps that wasn’t really what the Bannin was looking for. Besides, he was only one of many different customers with different palettes. He alone was not a good metric of objectivity. Yasu didn’t understand his reasoning, of course, and he smirked at her facepalming. He could take the time, but it was such a small thing that it hardly mattered. Besides, it was more fun this way.

”I may be a man of learning, but sometimes a simple response is best,” he chuckled, unable to hide the mirth he held for her demeanor. For a spell, a calm silence hung between the pair. She seemed to be looking at him for… something. What, did he still have some food left on his face? He was pretty sure he didn’t; he’d have felt it otherwise. The question that left her lips, unlike her previous reaction, merited a more dignified response. He nodded his head as he pondered over his answer. ”Well… I suppose in comparison to others, I am… And yet I thirst for life and knowledge while others are content to live within this perfect little box they set up for themselves, never challenging themselves or their perspectives. I can’t really say I’d have it any other way, if I had to choose.”

His eyes sharpened, and the smirk turned into a cheeky, wild grin. ”Besides, at least I’m not boring,” Okita beamed, his eccentricities on display with pride.

[Willoria]

Yasu shook her head at Okita's explanation about himself, unable to help thinking that even his explanation made him seem odd. She wouldn't admit it, but she was starting to like that about him. Of course almost immediately he said something that sounded distinctly like a jab at her, causing her to narrow her amber eyes at him. "No you're right, you're definitely not boring." she said sarcastically, shaking her head for a moment with a heavy sigh of obvious annoyance.

She kept her arms crossed as she leaned back in her chair and sighed heavily, glancing the direction Souta had gone before looking at Okita again. "So you came to ask me about the thing in the desert, and to give me a hard time, anything else?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him as she chewed on the inside of her lip. 'Why the hell is he so good at annoying me today? It's not normally this bad...'

[ShinobiTruth]

Yasu's response to his statement was... confusing. Okita's grin faded slightly, his eyebrow arching as he looked upon Yasu. What was she so terse about? Sure, they had plenty of banter and smack-talk between each other, but this was different. Had she had a bad day? Perhaps she'd gotten some unfortunate news? Maybe it was that dreaded time of the month for her kind? Okita couldn't be certain. He could pry, but he doubted she'd open up to him in this state. And if she wouldn't speak plainly, there was little point to try and dig deeper. Instead, he pulled out his notes and jotted down what they had discussed and what he had discovered in his little experiment. He would be continuing developing his theories at home. For now, he had what he needed... though now that Yasu was here, there was something he was curious about. She'd down it the first day she met and when they were in the tomb, but he'd had little time to ask about it outside of the basics.

Thus, while shuffling his notes away into his satchel, he spoke again. "Well... I suppose there is one more thing. You and your partner, Rokuro, have... unique physiologies. I have to admit that I'm curious," Okita confirmed. "If you were born with it, then that's that, I guess, but I wonder if that's really the case. Care to give me the full story?" He leaned back and looked Yasu in her glowering eyes as he smirked. "Does the mysterious Yasu wish to divulge her backstory to this humble scholar?"

Humble. Hah. He balked even at his own joke. Humility had its place, but Okita found it less useful than confidence and pride. Simply conceding defeat to your inadequacies wasn't Okita's style. He'd rather conquer them under foot.

[Willoria]

Yasu snorted as Okita called himself humble. "Humble my ass." she remarked, smirking right back at him before shaking her head again. "As far as Rokuro goes... he won't tell you. I can't tell you, but at least I won't get nasty with you over it." she said, shrugging. "Most I can tell you about it is that it involves a freak accident with a very very strong spirit. It corrupted his clan element and left him in his current state." She frowned slightly thinking about it, trying to dodge the subject of the Genma only got more difficult the further she got into her work as a Genma Guardian, and it made her wonder how long she could really keep from accidentally spilling something to Okita, especially since he was now interested in Tenkujutsu.

But as she thought about her own situation the woman sighed and shrugged lightly. "I guess I just got too curious." she admitted, frowning slightly as she looked down at the table for a moment. "A couple years ago I was still a Chunin and became obsessed with reading about possessions and spirits, before Souta found me. Unlike you I didn't get permission to go start looking into things. Souta found out what I was studying and I guess followed me when I went to investigate some odd reports." She lifted her eyes from the table and looked at Okita for a moment. "I got in over my head and Souta and Rokuro saved my ass, the ability I have now was the side effect I was left with. It was some kind of Phoenix spirit I tangled with, it used to be a lot worse when I didn't have control. Souta helped me learn how to control it, and taught me Tenku to keep me from getting in that kind of trouble again... he always told me it could have been a lot worse, that I could have ended up like Rokuro or worse."

[ShinobiTruth]

Okita flashed a dirty grin at Yasu's pointed criticism, agreeing on the absolute absurdity of that assertion. He mentally filed Rokuro's situation away for later consideration but otherwise didn't pay it much mind. Strong spirit, corrupted crystals. Got it. Now, for the story he was actually interested in.

The smile faded from the genin's face as he listened to Yasu's experience. It was ironic how similar their first experiences were with contacting spirits. The main difference was... well, he had her there. Had it not been for her prior experience and quick thinking, there was no telling what would have happened to him. Okita still keenly remembered the sensation of what he now recognized as his soul being slowly peeled away from his body by the creature. It was strange... and he had to admit, for a moment, terrifying. It seemed that, for how strongly he felt otherwise, those crotchety old fogeys in the Council actually had good reasons for being cautious about allowing genin outside of the village. Not all of them were as learned as he was. Not all of them were as studious. And even he had come close to meeting an untimely end. Despite how easily they got under each other's skin, in a way, they shared experiences deeper and more personal than most could ever claim.

Okita felt compelled to offer some kind gesture, but he was quickly faced with the understanding that he knew little to nothing about how to do so. The mental strain on his face could be described like handing a baker a hammer and telling him to make a sword. With an awkward and uncertain hand, he patted her hand a couple of times with a small nod. "I think I know a bit of what you went through now... given what almost happened with me," he admitted, his tone uncharacteristically serious. "I'm just glad that, if nothing else, something approaching a positive outcome became of it."

[Willoria]

At first Yasu didn't register how serious he was trying to be, or how awkward it was when he patted her hand. Her eyes had dropped back to the table as he spoke and as he touched her. He mentioned something positive happening and the woman snorted a laugh. "Yeah, I never have to worry about my hot tea going cold, I can reheat any meal, and every guy I meet may age immediately asks me," she quickly mustered up the fakest and creepiest voice imitation she could muster up, "Hey baby, you run as hot on the inside as you do outside? I bet it feels good?" She laughed again and shook her head, chewing on the inside of her lip for a moment in the awkward silence that followed.

She looked over as the feeling of his hand still resting on hers suddenly registered with her and for a moment she blushed lightly as she realized he could probably feel that her body temperature, even when she wasn't embered, was a few degrees higher than the average person's. Swallowing hard she pushed the awkward feeling out of her mind and removed her hand from under his to rest her chin on it as she smirked at him. Her normal demeanor was quickly returning. "At least it's good for catching bookworms off guard, or burning someone who keeps putting their foot in their mouth." she teased, referring to the first day they met and she had hugged him.

[ShinobiTruth]

Okita wouldn't have understood the downsides or the depth of what she felt she lost from the incident if she hadn't told him. He admittedly looked at it from a logical perspective. Aside from the fact that she survived, she got an ability that she learned to control and was useful to her skill set as a shinobi? What wasn't to like about that? Once she made it apparent that the way people treated her was different, however, he started to comprehend some of the smaller costs she had to pay. The sheer gall of the final example she gave was so nonsensical to him that he almost wondered for a second if she was simply being coy. But he understood quickly enough that she was speaking the truth. His face twisted in disgust. People could be so banal. Sure, he was hardly a saint and barely tolerated most people, to begin with, but that was because society as a whole was petty, short-sighted, and vain. It seemed that Yasu knew that firsthand.

Okita did notice her hand was unusually warm, but now that he had known her, it was hardly something to be concerned about, so long as she wasn't actively on fire. She pulled her hand away as that mostly-indelible smirk returned to her lips. At least her mood was improving. Okita chuckled at her recounting of the first day they met. "Now, now, if I recall correctly, I wasn't the one who got reprimanded by their boss. Though, yes, I admit that having to repatch my robes was rather annoying," he countered with a coy eye-roll of his own. "Had to deal with the smell of burned cotton and linen in my room for the entire time I was on bed rest."

His thirst for knowledge of the strange and unknown made Okita impervious to the tendencies of the other villagers to separate and ostracize the strange and abnormal. As far as he could tell, a few unimportant quirks aside, Yasu was the same as everyone else... if not marginally more interesting, to her credit.

[Willoria]

She didn't say it, but Yasu was oddly relieved that to see that Okita clearly got no amusement out of what crude things people had said about her. If anything, she was glad to see that he was as disgusted as she was by all of that. Though the sad thing was, it wasn't even the worst thing she'd ever heard. The rest she kept to herself though. As the conversation turned to the day they'd met though Yasu simply snorted. "Oh please, seeing you panic for a moment was worth the reprimand." she told him, grinning for a moment. "I get the feeling there aren't many people in this world that are capable of making you as uncomfortable as I did that day." she added.

An idea suddenly came to the young woman and she stood up, moving to the other side of the table where Okita was seated and she pulled a chair over beside him. In fact, she pulled the chair over directly beside him and sat down in it so that her leg was up against his. She turned to look at him and grinned suddenly before asking him a simple question. "You ever play the Nervous Game?"

[ShinobiTruth]

Okita held up a hand in futile protest, a smirk still on his face as his head bobbed in a matter-of-fact manner. "Look, if you must know, I was flustered because your little flame trick would have burned up a considerable amount of my research," he contested with a joking huff, knowing very well that neither she nor he accepted such an explanation. "And not many people would think to get to me by turning my research into literal ashes. So of course, you caught me off-guard."

Her sudden movement confused the genin, and that confusion was reflected on his face as she sat down next to him, and very closely so at that. He was a bit conscious of his personal space, but this could very well be a game to try and get under his skin. He wouldn't make it that easy for her. Standing his ground, she asked him a rather pointed question, one elementary enough that he had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. "Me? Play a game? I research for fun," he scoffed playfully. The closest he came to "playing" much of anything was this tit-for-tat that he so deeply enjoyed. In and of itself, this back and forth between the pair was an intriguing, engaging tug of war, a battle of wills and wits. Who had time for games when there was so much more fun to be had elsewhere?

[Willoria]

Yasu rolled her eyes as Okita insisted he only researched for fun. "Well now you're going to play a game with me." she said with a devilish smirk. She took one of his hands and put it on her knee, shifting it so his fingers trailed on the inside of her leg. She then rest her own hand on his knee in a similar fashion before looking at him a moment. Her smirk was of course still present. "The game is simple. We both slowly move our hands up at the same pace. The first person to get 'nervous' and remove their hand... loses." She tilted her head slightly and looked at him. "Simple enough, right?"

All she had seen of Okita so far was his penchant for research and how anal he could be about it. She wasn't sure she'd seen him have fun even once, or relax for that matter. 'Maybe research really is how he relaxes... but is he as oblivious as he seems? Or willfully ignorant of what flirting is?' Her curiosity was getting the better of her, and if she could get Okita to play a stupid little game, she wondered how it would go.

[ShinobiTruth]

Okita fancied himself a man of flexible wit and calm nerves when it came down to it, his intellect and gilded tongue his preferred weapons for subversion. He stuck closely to things that suited his strengths, which were largely academic. The obvious consequence of that was a lack of social intelligence, “street smarts” if you will. The notion of talking to women outside of an absolute necessity simply didn’t occur to the adolescent scholar. When Yasu moved his hand to her knee, his eyes widened in incredulity before narrowing in suspicion. Was this another one of her tricks? A ploy to lure him into a trap? Or perhaps she was merely trying to get under his skin?

Yasu’s hand settled on his knee after that, and he couldn’t stop the slight pinkish shade that accented his cheeks as his heart began to race. Whatever this was, it was working, and Okita hated that. He hadn’t been paying attention to how physically close they’d been during their first few encounters before this point. Now that his mind was filing through those memories, it simply flustered him even more. ”…I-If this is a game of wills, I’m not going to break easily,” he stammered, his eyes averting as he checked his surroundings. Was anyone watching? Wait, why did he suddenly care?

[Willoria]

Watching Okita’s reactions alone was worth it. Yasu could already see how this was completely foreign to him. As he tried to maintain a face of bravado the woman grinned at him wickedly. ”Well… it has the potential to be a stiff competition…” she replied to him simply as she inched her hand up a bit. Her fingertips traced circles on the inside curve of his upper knee as she stared at his face just waiting for a reaction from him.

“I’m curious, of all your research how much time have you actually spent with women? Any crushes? Girlfriends?” she asked, leaning her shoulder against his and still watching him carefully at how physically close this brought them. “…are you blushing, Okita?”

[ShinobiTruth]

Damn this woman. She was attacking him with a school of combat he had no experience with. Okita was now keenly aware of where Yasu's hand rested, the movement of her fingers sending tingling waves along his leg. He didn't even know that his skin was sensitive there before now. Okita did his best to maintain his composure, but he could not hide his clenching jaw nor the slight pink hue on his cheeks. His free hand balled into a fist, and he resisted doing the same with the hand on her knee. Okita did not dignify her questions with responses. So, she wanted to play this game? Fine. His pride would not let him back down, not after she'd found him so vulnerable.

Instead of answering her questions, still keeping his gaze averted, Okita skipped the knee entirely and firmly gripped the inside of Yasu's thigh, about halfway up. He would not leave it at that alone; his fingers would relax and contract, massaging the muscles there. 'She might be comfortable in speaking about these things. Actions are another thing entirely.' It was a gambit, to be certain. He was banking on the fact that she wouldn't expect this from him. Even if it made her think him to be crass or perverse, that would be enough to catch her off-guard. Even the contact itself made him feel things he didn't quite understand, but his stubbornness wouldn't let Yasu have the last laugh here.

[Willoria]

He might have been trying not to look at her, keeping his gaze averted, but Yasu was doing quite the opposite. She rested her chin on his shoulder, looking up at him with her almost-glowing amber eyes. "Are you suddenly shy, Okita?" she said quietly. She opened her mouth to say something again, but just then his hand trailed down to her mid-inner-thigh and she felt him gripping at her. The young woman couldn't help a small whimpering moan in surprise. "Well aren't we brazen..." she cooed at him as her hand mirrored his in every way. Her hand moved up to his mid-inner-thigh and similarly her fingers stretched out and lightly squeezed and massaged the muscle there as she watched him.

"You know the whole point of 'The Nervous Game' is the slow progress and build up, right? Or are you after some other prize instead?" She smirked up at him still, inching her chin a little further on his shoulder. If he turned to look at her now, his face would be less than an inch from hers. She was enjoying watching him silently try to keep from squirming, and could almost feel the tension under his skin as she leaned against him.

[ShinobiTruth]

Well, he probably should have figured that wouldn't work. And now her hand was worrying close to an even more vulnerable place. That gambit had not paid the dividends Okita had hoped, and it left him in an ever more precarious bind. His face was beet red, and he was doing his utmost to ignore the burning ember eyes boring into the side of his head and the strange warmth of her body against his arm and thigh. Actually, now that he reflected on it, why the heck was she even doing this?! He didn't pretend to understand people super well, least of all women, but given their meetings up until this point, none of this made sense. He was quite intelligent and diligent in his studies, but he was just a genin. She outranked him, outmatched him, and he suspected that while his experience in the tomb connected them, it was still nothing close to the extent that she'd experienced. So what was this then?

His mind raced with the possibilities. 'Think, Okita! This is a sultry child's game. She's clearly trying to get under your skin, and it's working. Screw winning; if you want to leave with any sort of dignity, you have to figure out what makes her tick. What has she said up until this point? Well, she could just be promiscuous... No, that's not the answer. She would have thought of something like this when we first met if that were the case. Look for context clues. There's gotta be something-'

His hand stopped as something in his head clicked.

"Yeah, I never have to worry about my hot tea going cold, I can reheat any meal, and every guy I meet my age immediately asks me 'hey baby, you run as hot on the inside as you do outside? I bet it feels good?'"

There was something in her voice there. A dismissiveness. Not quite a sadness, nor was it a sense of shame... but a resignation, a vulnerability. Now how could he target- ...No. He was proud, he spoke his mind, and he cared little about what others thought of him... but he wasn't entirely a dick. Only mostly one.

The only thing he could think to do was basically suicide. She would probably kill him for this... but even in this, he wasn't about to let her win. He would prey on her sentimentality. Even if it was subdued, it was probably still buried there somewhere, and he intended to unearth it. He had to be quick with this hail mary; otherwise, she might stop him. Mentally counting down, Okita slid his hand up into the very deepest part of her thigh, sliding his palm along the inside of her leg before clawing his fingers along its surface. At the same time, his other hand reached around and quickly slid into Yasu's hair, grabbing the base of her skull, pulling her head back slightly as he turned and crashed his lips into hers, stealing the breath from her lungs in his ferocity.

Okita's face was red from cheeks to ears, but she had challenged him so brazenly that he refused to back down. He had little attachment to these types of landmarks. If his first kiss was the price to pay for victory, so be it.

[Willoria]

Yasu had expected to have control this entire game. What she had noticed of him from the start, she had thought he'd melt under her touch, maybe even quiver. She thought maybe she'd get one more move in before she was able to kiss him. What she hadn't anticipated at all was for him to jump the gun and instead take her by surprise entirely. When his hand slid all the way up her thigh and clawed at her she sucked in a hard breath and gripped at his leg hard to try and keep from letting go of him out of reflex. But the true surprise came next for the woman. The grabbing of her hair, kissing her hard, her hand suddenly left his leg in shock to grab at his forearm as she whimpered quietly her surprise.

But what likely would have surprised him even more was after her eyes went wide, they also fluttered shut. After his lips crashed into hers, hers pressed back. She deepened the kiss as her tongue slipped from her mouth to his briefly. Her hand that had left his leg still gripped his forearm but not as if to try and get him to stop, rather to try and keep him where he was. If he tried to break the kiss, she'd try to get just one more out of him, freezing in place when she realized he was pulling away and staring at him for a moment without speaking as even she tried to process what just happened.

'...I really hope that wasn't just to win the game.' She had a feeling that was a thought best kept to herself.

[ShinobiTruth]

For a brief moment, Okita felt Yasu's hand leave his leg, and through the tingling of his skin from the rough kiss, he felt a small rush of victory. And almost immediately afterward, any thought of the game left his mind as Yasu didn't pull or shove him away. Okita didn't immediately understand why her eyes closed like they did, almost as if they were wilting under a powerful force. He didn't realize what was going on until she pushed back against his lips. This wasn't Yasu trying to fight for control, to try and overtake him. This... was a kiss. An actual, honest to gods kiss. The force of the exchange dropped immediately, but the intensity of their ballet deepened, Okita unable to stop a shiver from racking his body when Yasu's tongue skirted the surface of his own. Her hand on his forearm didn't try to pull him away; instead, it held him in place, her superior strength making him unable to resist. There was tenderness and emotion and need pouring into every touch of their lips, and it overwhelmed the genin's brain with a surge of endorphins he wasn't certain he'd ever experienced. After a certain point, he wasn't really sure whether he'd only done what he did because it was necessary or even for how long they kissed. Eventually, his need for oxygen won out, yet his lips reflexively returned the final desperate kiss that she tried to claim as they finally sat there, staring at each other as he pulled away slackjawed. The hand on the back of Yasu's head slowly slid down to her shoulder as Okita caught his breath. What... what had just happened here? Was this a prank? A trick? Or did Yasu want more? Was he ready for such a thing?

His mind was cloudy, but he did remember one thing he'd thought to say before the last sixty seconds of oral contact had utterly destroyed the pretense of the "game" they were playing. Taking a moment to blink and close his mouth, he cleared his throat before looking back at Yasu. "You... You care too much about what other people think," he sputtered, not nearly as composed as he would be with even just a dash more clarity. "You're not less than you were before because of what happened to you. You're more, more than any of those idiots can hope to be. Be proud of what you survived and what you've accomplished since then. Don't stop pursuing your dreams until this world has given you everything you want... And don't let anyone tell you any different."

He'd forgotten that his hand was still gripping the deepest part of Yasu's inner thigh. When he said the final phrase, his hands squeezed lightly around her shoulder and her leg as well. It was only after Okita had managed to get the words out that more of his clarity started returning. Damn it, what had he just done? Awkwardly removing his hands, Okita's gaze fell to his lap, eyes unsteadily flitting back and forth. It was clear that his mind was frantically trying to organize and contextualize the utter insanity of the last minute into something coherent and cohesive with his perception of reality. And his mind was failing. He couldn’t center his thoughts. Too many distractions, too much noise. Gathering his satchel, he stood from his chair. "I need to go," he stated quietly before starting to walk away from the restaurant. He was still red as a strawberry, and his ears were practically emitting steam.

'...Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!'

[Willoria]

Yasu found herself just staring at him, trying to understand what had just happened, and also slowly realizing that he seemed to be puzzling together the same thing. He seemed as unsure as she was, but when he finally started to speak Yasu looked thoroughly confused. He mentioned what other people think and the woman's brow furrowed as she tilted her head slightly. But just as she was about to ask him what he was talking about, he continued. For the first time he spoke in such a way that she couldn't detect any of his ego, or his sarcasm. There wasn't any bite to his words or a hidden game or duality. He seemed to be speaking plainly, and very directly to her. In some way that almost confused her. She felt him squeeze her as if giving assurance but the placement of his hands didn't phase her or upset her, not until he started quickly removing his hands and acting awkwardly. Her hands reached to touch his but they started moving for his things too quickly. "Wait, Okita, what's-" Before she knew it he was was excusing himself to go and moving away.

The girl scrambled to her feet so quickly she knocked the chair over, a forlorn look in her eyes as she watched him go. And yet, she felt rooted to the spot, as if he'd made it clear she wasn't to follow him. "Wait!" But he was already too far, and she found herself running both hand through her hair and pacing, exasperated as she desperately muttered under her breath. "Gods how stupid..." Eventually she planted a hand under the table and flung it, ignoring the tears that sprung to the corners of her eyes only to quickly evaporate away before they hand a chance to truly spill.