[Graded][Plotboard] Just the Truth

[Willoria]

[Plotboard] Rebuilding Burned Bridges Ume had probably spent several hours getting her rooms just the way she wanted them in the new house. Since she'd been stuck in the house ever since her nosebleed during the house hunt, she'd had a lot of spare time. Koyama had been particularly insistent on her resting, and the doctor putting her on bed rest for a week hadn't helped her case either. But at least today she had the entire place to herself. Koyama was off on mission, and Ume was adhering to doctor's orders and staying indoors. Of course, the indoor man-made hotspring helped. She sat in it, breathing in the steam, completely nude for much of the morning. A tray of hot tea and snacks nearby, she only stirred as she heard a knocking at the front door that echoed through the house. With a groan the sixteen year old climbed out of the water and paused in front of a mirror on the wall, noticing what her doctor had noticed at her previous appointment as well. Despite her bouts of illness, the veins in her shoulder were slowly returning to normal and the color had returned in about an inch of it. But she didn't dwell, grabbing her robe off a hook and pulling it around herself to tie at the waist, she slipped on a pair of house sandals and made her way to the front door.

Her hair was still dripping wet starting at the back of her head and down, and she pulled it around to rest over her shoulder, revealing partially the tattoo on her neck. She had no idea who was on the other side of the door, just assumed it was more deliveries as some changes were still being made to the home to accomodate Koyama's height. She certainly wasn't expecting the sight of Tatsuo as she pulled open the door and for a moment she just stared at him. "Uh... hi." she said quietly, chewing on her lip a moment before she realized she wasn't moving and suddenly stepped aside, motioning him inside.

[Niro]

Tatsuo had left his house earlier in the week after his talk with Kotaru in which the two young men had decided to let bygones be bygones and fix the strained relationship between them. He had gone straight to Koyama's original house to get some answers from Ume about her check up and about the current situation they were in. Instead of being welcomed to them inside the house, Tatsuo had found the house empty with no signs of anyone living within it. He had scrunched his face up in frustration at the sight but sighed as he knew they had been planning on moving outside of the compound for a while but he did not know where nor did Ume mention where. For the entire week after that day, sans his Arena fight, Tatsuo had walked through the village with his sensory active in an attempt to find either the behemoth or Ume.

Finally he had found her signature in a house miles away from the compound and Tatsuo was relieved. She was still alive and had made it out of the compound alive. The living space in which he walked up to to knock on the door was beautiful and looked way above Koyama's pay grade. He knocked on the door, half expecting no one to answer before Ume did, in only a robe and with her hair over her shoulder. Tatsuo looked the girl up and down, his face growing red before she moved aside and let him in. "Uh...hi. New place looks nice...kinda wish you had told me where it was though, I spent the week looking for 'ya with my sensory." Tatsuo chuckled as he looked around the space, taking it in with his own eyes.

"...How the hell are you guys affording this?"

[Willoria]

Ume didn't blush until Tatsuo mentioned that she hadn't told him she had moved. "I... I wasn't sure you'd want to see me." she admitted quietly, shutting the door behind him once Tatsuo came in. "And after what you'd said... I kept waiting to hear about your Arena fight but... well after what you'd said I was afraid to go by your house to find out." Her blush only deepened as she spoke and lead the way further into the living room. The place had been nicely furnished by now and the pair stood in a fairly large living room with a lofted ceiling and a fireplace at one end, shoji screens on either side of the fireplace with one of them cracked open.

As Tatsuo asked about how they afforded it, Ume couldn't help a bit of a grin. "I guess the last people who owned it couldn't afford it. They needed to get out of it so bad they sold it for under its worth, like half of it. So Koyama and I got it for a steal." She reached up as she spoke to rub the back of neck timidly which only ended in a flinch. "God how long til this damn thing heals..." she muttered, sighing as she shook her head and turned away, leading the way to the shoji screen that was cracked open. In doing so she left part of her neck visible to Tatsuo, and her new tattoo visible. It had mostly healed though a couple areas were slightly red.

"This is probably the part we've fought over the most." she admitted, openly the shoji screen enough to show off the steam room and bath within before closing it and leading the way down a hallway. "I practically have my own apartment in here." she added, leading Tatsuo to one of her rooms, her bedroom specifically, where she finally sat down at the edge of the bed and looked at Tatsuo. "I'm guessing you didn't come for a tour though..."

[Niro]

Tatsuo arched an eyebrow as she mentioned him not wanting to see her afterwards. "I had to...work out some frustration, I won't lie. It's...taken care of though." Tatsuo replied, trying to keep the fact he had to literally tore a man limb from limb to vent his frustrations about...everything. He had felt like a clean slate after he had walked back into the waiting room covered in the man's blood with his stomach digesting a whopping four new shiin. The amazement over his new shiin had also helped to drown out the frustration that had taken root within him. "Most people would assume when their girlfriend moves without leavin' a message or sending some mail that she doesn't want the guy coming around anymore...Lucky for you, I'm persistent." He grinned slightly as he followed her into the household.

"Makes sense, lucky for you guys to have found such a deal. I hope I can find something just as good when I go looking." Tatsuo went on, admiring the room but focusing his attention back on her when he noticed her flinch slightly after touching her neck. He didn't move, if it was related to her illness hopefully she'd tell him but he was slightly shocked to see portion of a tattoo located on the back of her neck. 'That's new.' Tatsuo thought to himself, following her as she went on to give him a bit of a tour.

Tatsuo's eyes widened as she revealed the steam room and his jaw hung slightly slack as he drank it. 'Yeah, they definitely got this for a steal. A damn steam room as well?' He thought to himself before she escorted him down another hallway and into her bedroom. As Tatsuo crossed the threshold of the room, he mentally steeled himself for the coming conversation. Whether the outcome be good or bad, it had to be done.

"Not really." He admitted, leaning up against the door frame and placing his hands within his pockets. "Why didn't you tell me?" Tatsuo asked, his voice low and full of hurt while his eyes locked themselves to the floor.

[Willoria]

Ume watched him, noticing how he kept his distance from her still. He had made no move yet to touch her, kiss her, now going so far as to lean against the doorframe of her room instead of getting anywhere near her as she sat on her bed. Her own eyes dropped to the floor as she found herself again wondering if he really wanted her at all. He asked his question and for a moment Ume wasn't sure what he meant. But it only took a moment before she sighed heavily. "He told you then." she said rather flatly, her eyes staying on the floor as she considered what to say. "Honestly... you weren't around.
Always on mission, training, getting stronger and leaving me in the dust... I wasn't sure you wanted to be with me anymore."

Just a couple days ago this train of thought had brought tears to her eyes. But now Ume was bracing herself, sounding once more like the guarded girl she was before she met Tatsuo. Her voice was flat, devoid of any real emotion as her eyes stayed fixed on the floor. "I felt... I knew that if I told you, you would spend all your time with me. But I wanted you to want to be around me. To choose it. I felt like by telling you I was only taking that choice from you. Roping you into something that maybe you wanted no part of."

Ume took a deep breath, momentarily losing her control as her breathing shook. But she managed to bring herself under some kind of control, though she couldn't stop the tears in her eyes. "And I just didn't know how to tell you... a genetic disease, both my parents having it. Even if doc finds a cure or I find some other way to manage it... if I have kids I am passing on a death sentence to them..."

[Niro]

"Kotaru may put on the front of being a bad ass but the second I glare at him like I mean it, he'll tell me the truth although sometimes he won't tell me everything." Tatsuo said, his voice low but a small smile tugged at his lips. "He only told me you were dying. Not much besides that." The smile faded away into nothingness as the words passed his lips and were spoken.

"I'm always training and pushing myself because...two reasons. First and foremost is because I need to protect people. I want to protect you. I can't do it if I'm not strong, the strongest Akari and no others can dare another attempt on your life." Tatsuo began, passion welling up within his chest and bleeding into his words. "I want to protect you, I want to protect Kotaru. I want to protect my parents, my sisters. I can't...I can't do that if I'm not strong. I couldn't bear failing..."

"Second, I need to raise money. I can't will myself a house or apartment out of thin air. Missions are my only source of incomes, unlike Mitsuo I don't have a side job and my parents aren't keen on helping me out with the cost. It falls directly on me to find and buy a place."

"Thirdly...if I didn't want you, I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't have spent a week tracking you down with my most poorly developed techniques and straining my mental capacity day after day trying to find yours or Koyamas chakra signature while sifting through the entire village. I just...I needed time to sort my thoughts, sort my feelings and frustrations. It wouldn't be fair to anyone if I started lashing out because I had no way to get my feelings off my chest."

"I can't be around if I don't know where you are or what's going on recently. You think you felt unwanted?...Learning my adopted little brother and my girlfriend made out made me feel unwanted by both of you, like every interaction was meaningless. Not telling me about your check up...only amplified that. That you didn't want me around. Those feelings returned tenfold the day I showed up to the house and found it empty. My chest felt like someone had stuck their hand through it and ripped out my still beating heart. I don't care about kids right now, the thought hadn't even crossed my mind. My only worry was about you." Tatsuo finished, his voice thick with emotion. Pain, loneliness, confusion all saturated his words as he poured his heart out yet he did not realize he had slowly begun to move to stand directly in front of her at the side of the bed. He still hung his head hung low and his shoulders slouched so far down he looked not a bit of his six-foot frame but now his eyes were looking down at her, the beginning of tears welling up in his eyes.

[Willoria]

Ume listened, though it was easy. The further he got into talking, the more her shoulders slumped and by time he finished she was leaning almost all the way forward, head almost between her knees as she started crying like she wasn't sure she ever had before. 'No matter what I say its all my fault... he makes that so very clear....' She was sobbing so hard her shoulders shook, her arms up and over her head as she tried to get herself under control and only failed. Her thoughts of her conversation with Ren were already so far from her mind, her original thoughts of how she could prove herself to Tatsuo were just gone. She felt like she was back on that mountain again, staring out into an abyss with nothing but a cold blade inches from her. But she had sworn to herself that wasn't an option, that she would live even if it meant she lost everything because of what she had done with Kotaru. "What do you want from me?" she managed to whimper out before suddenly pulling away.

The girl sat up and twisted away, hugging her robe to herself as she put her back to Tatsuo, moving to the other side of the room and leaning her forehead against the wall as she fought for control of herself, hardly able to control the sobs at all as she struggled with her own words. "You ask me for an explanation... and I try to explain." she said. "I chose you, and you left me to think I had killed you!" she added, shaking her head. "Do you want me? Or do you hate me?!" she demanded, turning suddenly to face him as she swallowed hard and looked at him. "I chose you, Tatsuo... but I have no idea what you want from me still. I drown myself in training, in work, anything I can get and the only thing it gets me is more pain! I can't piece myself together after what I did to you and I don't even know if I'm supposed to!"

She gasped as she tried to catch her breath, and felt that familiar trickle down her lip and chin as the world spun for a moment. "...woah..." She rest her back against the wall briefly before sliding down to her butt, reaching up a hand to feel her nose and pulling it away to see the all too dark blood across her fingers as she swallowed hard and tried to will her mind away from whatever was making it spin. "I'm sorry..." she said quietly. Though whether she was apologizing for her reaction or the blood, was a bit uncertain. She wasn't even sure. Ume closed her eyes and rest her head back against the wall as she tried to center herself. "I'm supposed to be on bed rest." she said quietly. "It's the only reason I'm even home... I've been trying to find a way to use this disease as a weapon... and doc says I'm pushing it too hard..." She sighed and glanced up at Tatsuo, realizing now he'd already seen something worse than her shoulder. She reached up and pulled her robe down a bit from her left shoulder, revealing where the veins had darkened nearly to black.

[Niro]

'What do I want from you?’ Tatsuo thought about the question as he leaned over the bed, not daring to say a word as Ume let out her own pent up frustrations with the situation but his eyes snapped up to and followed her as she got up and moved across the room away from him before reiterating that she had in fact chosen him over Kotaru. He waited patiently as she continued before she gasped. Tatsuo’s eyes narrowed as he watched her body language and the blood beginning to drip from her nose, moving to her in a single stride across the room as she slide down to her feet and crouching down low next to her. He didn’t know what to do, he had no idea what was even going on at this point with her. Was this just from her getting too riled up or was it caused by her illness? Tatsuo had been left so in the dark he hadn’t the slightest idea of how to proceed. He just remained crouched there, concern etched deep into his face as he watched her. As she calmed down, Tatsuo moved to sit next to her with a few inches of space in between them.

“The trust between me and Kotaru…the trust between you and me was damaged after everything. I want to fix it but that takes time. It’s impossible to just mend something as delicate as trust between people with no work. I want to repair it but…that takes time and effort by all parties.” Tatsuo said gently as he turned his head to face her. “At this point…I want to take things slow. Take it one step, one day at a time.” He placed his hand down on the floor between them with his palm up and fingers splayed wide, obvious he wanted her to take his hand with hers. “We need to communicate better, things aren’t going to go back to normal in a week. This is something we both need to work at.”

“I don’t know what you mean by…thinking you had killed me. If you mean the Arena fight…well, it was bloody and visceral and exactly what the clan wanted. Well, it was and then the riot broke out.” Tatsuo went on, his voice taking on a low tone as he thought back. “Kotaru’s fight was interrupted when the crowd saw all of his shiin and his rank and power at so young. The crowd was already riled up and their blood was pounding after…” Tatsuo trailed off, his eyes filled with shame and falling to the floor as he relived the experience of literally tearing a man limb from limb. “Anyway, the crowd rushed the Arena and we were able to make it out, but I’ve been so paranoid about the house being attacked. I’ve stayed up all night during the last week watching and waiting for someone stupid enough to try anything and then during the day trying to find you before passing out from exhaustion.” Tatsuo admitted. “I’m glad you’re fighting your hardest to turn this into something you can use and take control of but if you’re supposed to be on bed rest, maybe I should leave. I don’t want my presence to be a detriment to your health…” The frown on his face only deepened even more as she exposed her shoulder to him and showed him the blackness marking her skin and veins. It was progressing, obviously, but how fast and how aggressively Tatsuo had no idea.

[Willoria]

Ume sat quietly as Tatsuo explained, and she did her best to calm her own breathing and the like. The bloodflow didn't last long, just as last time, and thankfully she had sat down before passing out became a problem. But she looked down at his hand as he placed it between them and carefully, albeit hesitantly, she moved her hand to hold his, intertwining their fingers. "You had told me you just wanted to forget it ever happened... guess I didn't realize what you meant by that." she said quietly. She still hated what all she was losing. Tatsuo would get to repair his friendship with Kotaru, and his relationship with Ume (she hoped), but for Ume the only thing she could hope to regain was her relationship with Tatsuo. Slowly her young mind was realizing several things, and not just how complicated the process would be. She could never truly repair her friendship with Kotaru, and not just because Tatsuo would never trust them together again. She had allowed a line to be crossed. When they had told Tatsuo what they did it wasn't that Ume completely missed Kotaru's body language, its that some things were only just becoming clear to her.

"When you left for your arena fight you made it sound like you were going to die, that what Kotaru and I had done was so heavy on your mind that... that it would distract you." Ume sighed heavily. "It was the last thing you said to me, so yeah, I thought I might have killed you and until you just knocked on that door I had no idea how it all had turned out." she admitted, looking over at Tatsuo a moment. "I'm not the only one who didn't send word." she added quietly.

But as Tatsuo spoke of leaving her to rest, Ume suddenly shook her head. "Please, I'm going stir-crazy here." she said, looking at him with a pleading look in her eyes. "And believe it or not this is minor... I'm getting better." She shifted to face him better, and to also give him a better view of her shoulder. She pulled the robe down a bit more to show more of the veins, but pointed to an area below them. The veins there were back to their normal shade save for pale scars over them. "It's receding, Tatsuo." she told him. "I'm sure the bloody noses, the sickness, will take time to get over. It may even still occur sometimes, but the plague itself is receding. The work I'm doing seems to be helping."

As Ume calmed down it seemed her humor was returning as well, as a pale blush spread across her cheeks and a thought came to her mind. "Though this nosebleed was really badly timed... but I guess with you wanting to take things slow, what I was going to offer to show you how badly I want this to work is probably a moot point..."

[Niro]

“Are you sure?” Tatsuo asked, the worry etched into his face still prevalent. “I really don’t want to overstay my welcome or cause you to feel worse.” He was worried his actions and words had aggravated the disease into flaring up but as she mentioned the bloody noses happening more than once and instead happening several times his thoughts changed to it maybe not being his fault. His eyes locked onto the veins she showed him but even as she mentioned this being a minor episode and the disease receding as she attacked it back he couldn’t help but worry.

“I’m relieved but…I’m still worried.” Tatsuo admitted. “I hope you can beat this but just the thought of you not…” Tatsuo trailed off, his eyes turning downwards as the thought haunted his mind. He didn’t even want to voice those thoughts lest the universe dare to play a cruel joke on him and make them come true. He would not speak them, he would not give the thought power. His face contorted into a visage of confusion as she mentioned offering him something to prove her want for him, to prove her want to make the relationship work.

“Wait, what do you mean? Offer me something? I don’t follow.” Tatsuo replied with his confusion painted on his face as clear as the summer sky. “Did you get me a gift or something?”

[Willoria]

"I'm sure." Ume replied, taking a moment to make her way back to her feet. "Lets go in the steam room, my medicine and stuff is still in there." she added, taking Tatsuo's hand in hers again if he allowed for it. But as they walked back towards the steam room, and Tatsuo asked his question. A blush almost as red as her boyfriend's hair worked its way up Ume's neck and cheeks, even to the tips of her ears. She didn't say anything at first, only managing some stammering as she stepped into the steam room and closed the door behind them.

"Yes... I mean no... uh... you know I have never been with anyone before... right?" Still blushing she went to sit at the edge of the large bath, her legs dangling in up to her knees as she tried to find the right words without embarassing herself. "I... I was gonna offer me... all of me..." she looked at him a moment, not sure if he understood what she meant. And as if to make her point, the girl took a deep breath and undid her robe at her hip, sliding it off entirely.

[Niro]

Tatsuo followed her lead as she got up and began to head away from her bedroom and towards the steam room. He was excited to get in there and feel it for himself, it wasn’t like his own house had a steam room to relax in. Tatsuo took her hand in his as she offered her hand to him before she opened the door to the steam room.

The steam washed over him as he stepped over the threshold and she closed the door behind him. He drank in the sight as the steam slowly began to open his pores and clear out any congestion he had in his nose.

“Been with anyone? What do you mean offer y-“ Tatsuo shut up mid-sentence as he refocused his gaze on her and turned as red as his hair. “W-w-what” Tatsuo stammered before taking a deep breath to steady himself and find his resolve. He walked to her and took her in his arms before kissing her deeply and as passionately as he could muster with such a short amount of time to prepare. His lips pressed against hers while his tongue snaked out and pressed against her lips, asking permission to enter and deepen the kiss even more. “Are…are you sure?” He asked after he removed his tongue from her mouth, worry painted on his face.

[Willoria]

As Tatsuo tried to understand what Ume was saying, she watched him closely. When he suddenly cut himself off she stood, leaving her robe at the edge of the water as she watched Tatsuo and waited for him to piece her words together. Though still red up to the tips of her ears she stayed where she was and refused to try and cover herself as Tatsuo moved to her and finally seemed to take her in her arms. As he finally kissed her, she couldn't help thinking, 'finally'. He had never kissed her this way before, pushing things still further as he pressed the issue with his tongue. Hers touched his more than once before he finally broke the kiss to ask his question.

Ume smiled at the worry she saw in his face and brought both hands up to either side of his face, staring at him as if studying him. "I'm sure." she told him quietly, feeling a nervousness enter her breath as she smiled at him. "I want you to know what you mean to me." she added before moving to kiss him again, her hands moving from either side of his face to dig one set of fingers into his hair. Her other hand shifted to his waist.

The rest of what happened that night would become one of Ume's best memories, and one she'd return to often in the comfort of her own mind.