A Pebble in the Pond [Open to all]

[Keigo Oen]

Location: Hot Springs!
Occasion: None!​

There seemed to be alot of things going through the brain of Eiji, working in the teahouse was so tiresome. Every now and again he would find himself at the Hot springs. The Co-Ed side because he liked watching the families coming in. Most of the elders of the village ended up going to gender exclusive sides, but the younger people congregated in the Co-eds. It was nice to get away to a place like this on his days away from the house and Ryuichi... Uri and his boyfriend. Eck.

'Ahhh, nice to just kick back...' he picked a nice time too... he had the bath house to himself for the most part. Most of the others were in school or off at work at this time of day. The sun seemed to be lowering as it did in the later hours of the afternoon, not quite closing time for many jobs, but early enough for school to be still in. Why was he out here though? He was apart of an Elite troop of kids aiming to be ANBU Black ops. Reading a book on Genjutsu, trying to get his wits up about him and rest... but there was no rest for those who wished to beat Aya and Ryuichi...

"Heh... This is the life~"

 

[Sukuna Kiyo]

Aya decided to take a day off, and actually relax for once. Her muscles were sore, some of them might be torn, but she felt like she needed to train that hard. Not to account all the studying she had been doing, her brain hurt too. When it came to the books, she was slightly behind due to her past, but she'd catch up quickly. She was already getting there. But she knew she'd fry herself if she didn't relax once in a while. Aya decided to go to the hot springs, the water would help heal her muscles, and she'd never been to a hot spring before.

Aya decided to go into the co-ed, since she didn't care if guys saw her, and she didn't feel like looking at ... other girls. Aya walked into the area, it looked like there was one other person in there, upon closer inspection it was Ji, Aya grinned in a mischievous way, then she ran towards the water, and jumped in right in front of Ji. "Canon ball!" She yelled as she jumped in, tucking in her legs, and trying to make a huge splash. No one else was there, so there shouldn't be a biig problem.

After making a huge splash Aya came out of the water and looked at Ji to see the damage she'd done. "Ey there, Fancy meeting you here." She stated with a sly grin, as if trying to play off she didn't do anything.

[Topic entered]

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

It's been a little while since she took a dip in the hotsprings here in Kumogakure; a few weeks by her memory. She walked into the hotsprings with a towel over her body, her hair pinned up above her head (minus all of the bells-and-whistles that she normally has on) and with a set of glasses over her eyes. She didn't have much make-up to remove, only the eye-shadow and a little bit of blush was washed off. A perk to being young was that she was naturally beautiful without too much aid from beauty products; but they most certainly help amplify what was already there! In her left arm, pressed against her breasts was a wooden bucket with an assortment of soaps, shampoos, and even a tray, a bottle of sake, a bottle of soju, and a couple cups. She was slowly warming up to the idea on bathing in the co-ed side as it makes things a bit more interesting rather than cowering away from the world.

Upon leaving the changing room area, Kaori notice a young couple getting cozy in the hotspring as a sly look came across her face. She used her free-hand to hike up the towel, covering up the mole she had upon her left breast. The towel was still long enough to cover all of the important parts. Through the slit between the two towels, one could see a black dragon tattoo upon her left hip; or at least they'd see the bottom half of it. Upon her left hip, there was a white tiger tattoo, outlined in white, standing poised and ready-to-strike. She came in, intentionally adjusting her walking-manner to allow herself to 'bounce' a bit in a teasing manner knowing there's a young male in the hotspring.

She stopped for a moment to stare at the two, placing her free right-hand upon her hip and looked at the two square; the same foxy/devilish look in her eyes. "Oh, the treasures of young love!" she said in a teasing manner. "I hope I didn't interrupt anything. Then again, I think you two should get a hotel if you wanted to do this-and-that. Besides, it would make the hotsprings all gross," she said as she turned her eyes towards Eiji with a mischievous brow raised.

Clearing her throat, she walked into the hotspring and placed the bucket on the edge before fully submerging herself into the water. Her back goes rigid as she felt the warm water almost instantly soothe every muscle it touched. Her mischievous look melted away to a look of dumb-relief. She completely sat down, having the water (just barely) envelope the towel that she had wrapped around her. She double-checked the integrity of the knot tied to the towel before turning her body towards the bucket, set the tray upon the water; which it was designed to float in the water, spread out the cups/saucers for the drinks, and placed the two distinct bottles upon the tray. She took one of the small saucers, grabbed the sake bottle, and poured herself a drink. After replacing the sake bottle upon the tray, she took a quick sip of the sake and let out an animated 'Ahhhhh' before licking her lips.

She turned her eyes towards the two youngsters and then eyeballed the alcohol upon the tray that floated casually in front of her. "Where's my manners? Want a drink?" she asked, playing ignorant about their ages.

[Topic Entered]

 

[Keigo Oen]

It was impossible for this to last forever, but he could feel people rumbling. Even beginning to move in on his position. His sense of the Earth around him seemed to be growing. People were unable to sneak up on him, however, he couldnt decipher who was who just yet. He hadnt gained that level of chakra sensory just yet. Though when he heard her voice, he instantly knew who it was... 'Aya.' Though by that time it would be too late... his book, and his mood had drastically diminished, as she would pop up from the pool he'd frown from the steamy side of the room he sat at.

"Dont, 'Ey There!' Me! You just messed up my Book! I gotta return this to the library!', he'd continue muttering off profanity under his breath. Something about hussies and other snarky comments, but only to himself thus far nothing Aya may be able to hear unless she was trying to hear what he had to say. "...Why're you here anyways? Shouldnt you be punching a bag or something? Maybe your little boy toy Ryuichi is lookin for you.", a hint of jealousy, but more just trying to gauge her response, he hadnt seen the two hang out at all but Ryuichi and Eiji didnt do much together outside of that adventure outside of the village and a few classes.

Then before he would be able to continue he would e taken off guard by another woman. Talking about the 'Treasures of young love' or sum such. Eiji's face would turn to the location of the voice, his eyes widened at the sight. The unbridled... heinous look of the woman walking in, "...Ey, Ma'am, all the elders are in the other springs... Sorry if you lost your way...", though as he said that he chopped it up to old age to losing her way. Made enough sense.

Though, as he would watch her get into the water he'd huff lowering himself even more into the water and watching Aya from the corner of his eye. 'This is such a pain in my ass... Argh... Cant have a day to relax... gotta deal with Aya, and now this old hag, trying to remember what it was like to be young.' shaking his head at his thoughts he would tilt his head at the thought of alcohol, it was obvious that they were both under age... but Eiji would form a few handseals under the water and infusing his chakra into the water using the Aqua Fang jutsu he'd just learned to grab a cup of the alcohol before pulling it to him using the tendril that he summoned as like a limb. Though his chakra control wasnt the best, so he would stumble around with it before smirking to Aya. 'Heh, Yeeeaaah, eat it up... I'm Epic.', though he didnt drink just yet he motioned to Aya.

"So... 'Lover' gonna take a drink?"

 

[Sukuna Kiyo]

Aya laughed as he started to mutter and grumble, she thought it was funny. Pluss it was his fault for bringing a book near water in the first place, any noob would know that. "Ey, ey, ey, Books, and water don't mix." SHe stated while waving her hands, "I actually didn't see your book till you mentioned it." She stated and put her finger on her chin. the steam made things hard enough to see. She knew it was Ji, well she mostly assumed because most people in this village was as white as snow.

Aya blinked when Ji asked why she wasn't out punching a bag, he also mentioned someone by Ryuichi? She looked dumbfounded as to who that was. She did take a class with Ryuichi, but she didn't remember his name, so when asked she went blank. "I don't know any Ryuichi." She stated bluntly. "If you didn't want to be bothered I'm sure the bather at your own house would have been fine." She said with a nod. He probably would have been left alone in the male area, unless he ran into those kinds of guys over there. This was actually the first real bath she has had since the dorms had a shower system, more space that way she assumed.

Aya's attention was taken to a woman bouncing in. Aya wondered if she was blind, but she smirked at Ji's comment towards her. "You have no clue how gross the hot springs are then, I hear people bragging about doing it in the springs all the time. Though the heat along is to kill any bacteria, and the sulfur from the natural rocks help too." She stated, though back in her home village she heard it all the time, whether it was true or not she wasn't sure. But she had bathed in water that was more tainted than this if that were true.

Aya sat down after a sigh, and looked at the woman, she was obviously twice their age, if not older. But then she offered them a drink, Sake, and another drink. Aya knew those drinks too well, but she hadn't had any since joining the village. She remembered that is was a good way to incapacitate people if she needed to get to something or someone. People she grew up around worshiped alcohol, anything to help them escape reality.

Ji decided to show off a jutsu. "Oh you finally learn aqua fang?" She taunted, she had known this jutsu for a while now, but instead of competing she just grabbed a tray and took a sip. She really didn't respond to the lover comment Ji said, almost as if her ears were deaf to that word. "Thank you for the drink." She stated, she knew it was important to thank people, less make enemies. Refusing a drink was also rude, so Aya knew better to not refuse a polite gesture.

"I only stopped by to relax a bit, I thought the hot water would help heal my muscles." Aya stated, she then held her left shoulder. "I haven't soaked in hot water before, but I heard it helps." She stated with a grin.

 

[Hotaka Kyo]

Another mission completed, another injury to recover from, this one self-inflicted. He normally hated dealing with the quacks, but being told to soak in a hot spring wasn’t the worse kind of treatment one could be prescribed. He rarely attended the hot springs and it would provide him with a welcome break from his normal schedule, which did need to be slowed down at times. While he contemplated joining in on the gender exclusive side, with a bit of focus and the use of his tremor sense he could see that the co-ed side actually held less people today, and as such headed that way. The young man that entered the hall was tall, and scaring featured heavily on his face, chest, back and arms. He kept himself covered with a towel as appropriate, with the only other covering the bandages tightly wrapped around his right calf and the small bucket with a water bottle sitting inside of it that was carried under his right arm as he entered the spring. Kyo took a moment to pause and take in the three of them that were already in the water. His dark brown eyes lingered on all of them for some time, though more on their shoulders and forearms than anything that may have otherwise been an issue. His eyes lingered on Eiji and his unusual coloring longer than the others. He didn’t recognize any of them, but that didn’t mean much in a village the size of Kumo, especially at a spot like this where even tourists tended to visit regularly.

After taking in the three of them to his satisfaction the scarred young man moved on to the edge of the water, knelt beside it and took the water bottle from the bucket and set it to his side. He then took the now empty bucket and dipping it into the spring began to gently douse himself with the warm water, he started with his feet and moved on to his waist, then dipping into the water yet again he proceeded to douse his fingertips to his shoulder and chest. One final time he dipped the bucket into the water, pouring some over the top of his head. Once that was completed he swung the bucket away from the others to ensure there was no water pulling in the bucket and proceeded to place the water in it. He then set them into the spring before him. Kyo then took his time gently enter the spring, lowering himself into it up to his solar plexus, and setting the towel which he folded neatly in the bucket with the water bottle. As he did so he let out a small sigh and a quiet “Osu.”

After a moment he began to move his limbs about a bit before he turned his attention back to the others in the hot spring having observed his little ritual to completion and no longer needing to focus on anything in particular. He noted the drinks that the younger nin had taken, and nin they were as displayed by their use of a jutsu to seize the cups from the tray offered by the attractive women and wondered if he had disturbed them in the middle of something that they would rather not be, though he considered it too early in the day for that type of activity in the hot springs, which was part of the reason he had chosen to attend it at this time rather than later in the day. Rather than interrupt any more than he may have, the young man half lidded his eyes and sank a bit deeper into the water, letting it come all the way to his shoulders and continued to observe the situation. He had no intention of leaving, and now that he knew that several of the others where nin as well, even if they were younger than himself, he was interested in what he could learn of them and their companion from his observations.

[Topic Entered]

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

The 'old hag' comment didn't stir well with her and a look of annoyance and aggravation showed itself as she burnt a hole into the child's forehead. If only looks could kill. While she gave the youth a deathgaze, the words and medical jargon that spewed from the younger girl's lips just sounded like static in her ears. Her attention wasn't on the words she said, as enthralling as it might have been, as her attention was fully focused on Eiji; upset at the words he had spoken. Upon seeing the boy's use of the Aqua Fang jutsu, she let out a little laugh, slightly lurching forward and holding her stomach (over the towel) as she did. Her demeanor had changed the moment the two took a sip. She moved some of her hair from in-front of her eyes to the side.

"At least not ALL the youth in this village or complete goody-two-shoes," she said as she took another sip from the dish that she poured herself. "I had to pull this Otani-Kid's leg to drink after he, too, insulted me. And he had the nerve to offer to meet me again at the tea-house. It seems students in every village have no respect," she said before taking another sip. Placing the dish upon the floating tray, she manually moved to pick up the floating tray and put it on the hotspring's edge.

"By the way, 21 isn't old," she said as she pointed a single finger up into the sky, then turned it downwards. A weird current of water could be seen traveling through the water of the hotspring before attempting to create a bubble of water around the insulting youth. She attempted to put him into a water-prison, lifting him up above the water. She thought of going a bit more over-board with her jutsu usage, but this was a nice and easy start; especially to someone as tender as he. She didn't feel slighted by the jumbled medical-lingo by the girl, so she was spared from Kaori's wrath.

Kaori smiled and nodded to Aya as she showed her appreciation for the drink. "At least someone in this village has manners," she said before holding the finger upon the water to hold the water prison (if Eiji accepts it happening) and turned to take another sip from her saucer. She turned her eyes back towards Aya and nodded her head, raising the saucer that she had her drink in. "You are very welcome," she said before taking another sip of the fermented rice-wine.

Disruption in the water cause Kaori to lose focus on her water-prison, forcing her to drop it with quite the splash. She picked up the tray with the drinks on it, still holding the dish with her alcohol with it, lifting it up to try to avoid the splashing of the water-prison. Her eyes reacted to the sound of the extremely tall man that made his entrance, causing Kaori to look him up-and-down for a moment with a raised brow. She placed the tray down, finished the drink that she still held in her hands and returned it to the water (after the water calmed down). She looked the man, Kyo, up-and-down once again and began to fan herself. "Ooo! It seems like this village also has some beautiful people too!" she said in a rather flirtatious manner.

She slid the tray-full of drinks over towards the two children, as if encouraging them to take more drinks before her eyes fixated on Kyo. He seemed to be the quiet, strong type that she desired. All that's left is to assess if he is also a nice person and that'll be one person in a million that she could see as being a potential husband. This Kyo person seemed to be a stark contrast with that annoying ant named Maru. She continued to eye-ball him until he was done doing what he was doing for a moment, quickly turning to look away if he were to look in her direction.

 

[Keigo Oen]

"Tch, I... I dont mind your presence Aya... Heh, I enjoy you more so than most others, but I'm used tah bein' alone.", nodding again he would find his eyes drifting over to Kaori, nodding he wasnt a goodie goodie. He'd do anything he honestly wanted, but he often thought about trouble he'd get in. Though, if he was about to give his life to defend the village, he was more of an adult than the ramen stop owner. Or at least thats how Eiji's uncle explained it to him. So as he would begin to take the drink into his clutches before he'd suddenly be stuck in a prison of water. It would seem his comments had not fallen upon deaf ears. Though Eiji was scared... he was also aware that the woman wouldnt kill him... but he couldnt help but choke a bit holding his breath as long as she held him up there....

'Shit... She's strong...' nodding he would look but his body would be held in place so tight, he would try to move a muscle but the only thing he would be able to move would be his eyes. Frantically they would move around looking for a way out, but then he wouldnt have to look around too long. A handsome shinobi entered into the scene. This would throw off Kaori's grip and then water would suddenly loosen until he was let go... and boy was he let go into a coughing fit that shook the silence of the room. "Gah! Geez Lady! You didnt have to do that! It was a joke!", though he wouldnt care in all honesty he deserved the water prison, but she had only served as a catalyst to fuel his want to learn Water jutsu. And Aya kinda made him want to learn some wind jutsu, but would all of that be enough? His arsenal of jutsu wasnt vast, but for his age and... Thinking about it. he was far behind the likes of Shizuka and some of the other children running around. '...Have I been slacking off?' he would pause for a moment as he brought himself to slink his way back into the comforting waters of the pool...

Making his way over to Aya he'd stick his head up from the water, "Miss... I'm sorry... I didnt mean to disrespect you like that..", he'd speak humbly from the corner of the pool, but then he looked at the male... all the scars over his body. Eiji admired it, it meant that he had given his mind... and more so his body for this country. For this village. For him, to be a slacker, to realize that if he didnt straighten up, it shook Eiji again. He'd forgotten about Bazu... how his death shook him to his core... he had to make a change. Indirectly, Kaori had changed him...

Looking at Aya from his lowered position, "...Is the drink good?"

 

[Sukuna Kiyo]

Aya nodded to the woman, Aya was far from a goodie two shoes, but she liked to make people think she was. Maybe it was just a game right now to her, she believed that it didn't matter either way. Though as long as she wasn't arrested then all is fair, drinking wasn't enough to cause that sort of punishment, it'd be the woman who'd be in trouble if someone snitched. Aya didn't care if this woman was trying to get kids into bad problems, it wasn't really her business either. It was a free drink, after all, Aya didn't even know there was an age limit until recently since where she came from didn't follow any of the laws she has come to know.

Though Aya was curious as to why this woman wanted to get kids to drink, maybe it was a fetish. It'd make sense, I mean there is no true reason to pull a leg to get a kid to drink, If Aya was there, she'd just shrug it off and not offer a drink at all. She had to get some sort of pleasurable joy out of it to go out of her way to get a kid to drink.

Aya grinned at Ji again, hearing him say that he enjoyed her presence more so than most made her feel better. Though if he wanted to be alone, he could have stayed at home and taken a bath there. "Thanks, but there is no such thing as being alone in a public bath." Aya said with a smirk.

Then the older woman water prisoned Ji, AYa blinked a few times and scooted away. It seems his insults made her peeved a bit, and Aya opted to stay out of it. She doubted he'd get killed, but at the same time, she knew that if she tried anything, it might make the woman use a more deadly attack. Who knew what other jutsu she had. The water prison ended when the older woman spotted another man, Scarred, so he must have been a shinobi too. It seemed like the bath was just full of shinobi. The Woman had all her attention on him now, wooing over him. Aya shrugged it off, sure he was handsome, but she didn't care at the same time. It was true, his scars made him even more appealing.

After Ji was released he swam over to Aya and sat next to her, She didn't blame him, she didn't want to get near the woman either. She already finished her drink and sat it back on the tray, she would only have one, since she didn't feel like getting drunk. At least not with all these other shinobi around. She knows what happens when you get drunk around strangers, well one of two or three things, you end up with all your stuff stolen, You end up in someone's bed, or you end up missing.

Aya looked at Ji was a smile, it was more of a sympathetic smile, but she tried not to show it. "Yea, it was good. Did you enjoy yours before you lost it to the water?" Aya asked, before looking over to the tray, then the woman.

 

[Hotaka Kyo]

Kyo watched from his comfortable position as the three of them continued with antics, the companion of the two proving to be a nin as well with her capturing of the boy in water prison. “Guess we are all nin in here today.” He pondered to himself as he watched events unfold, he wasn’t going to step in and interrupt them unless it looked as if one of them might harm another, and the missions they all undertook were already dangerous enough that they didn’t need injuries from taking their play too far. Kyo had been too far to overhear their conversation clearly without a concentrated effort, but when she turned fanned herself and addressed him Kyo heard that just fine. Assuming his tremor sense had failed him he looked back over his shoulder to see who he had missed before realizing that she meant him. The briefest flash of confusion made its way across his face before it quickly returned to his normal stoic demeanor, she apparently had meant him, he hadn’t expected that type of reaction and felt she must have be playing a cruel trick on the young man, but her words had identified her as a foreign shinobi, a visitor to their great city and thus he had to choose his reply carefully. He didn’t want to be responsible for some international incident, and the fact that he seemed he may be out numbered three to one was something to consider as well, though the boy had called the one who had approached him lady, which seemed to mean that they possibly were strangers. “As do the others.” He replied with a slight sideways nod of his head in a complimentary manner towards the woman. His eyes followed the tray as she pushed it to the others, he watched them a moment, glad that the boy seemed to have been released from his watery prison. The two seemed to be doing fine, the boy had apologized and was mostly submerged and looking up at the girl who was smiling at who he figured was her partner, so no lasting damage had been done at the least. That was good.

Turning his attention more fully to the woman that stood before him Kyo took a moment before admitting that his reply had been accurate, she was beautiful, even when wearing nothing but a set of towels and a pair of glasses. The fact that she was wearing nothing but a towel finally sank in and Kyo averted his gaze so as to not be impolite, his cheeks flushing slightly as he did so. He felt lucky that he was in the hot water and could easily blame it on the heat rather than embarrassment. Kyo was unsure how to deal with this, he rarely dealt with people in a social setting, especially one where foreign shinobi were involved, he wasn’t a part of the ambassadors, but rather simply the infantry, even if he volunteered for various other duties. Even still, he knew it was rude to not introduce one’s self. Looking at the woman once again Kyo gave a small bow off his head and shoulders, “Hotaka Kyo, it is a pleasure to meet you.”

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

Kaori's vision began to blur, even with her glasses upon her face. This forced her to squeeze her eyes shut tight for a brief moment before re-opening them to them still being a bit blurry. She shook her head and placed her fingers upon her eyes, rubbing them a bit. There was a bit of pain coming from her eyes for a brief moment before the pain resided. These pains were getting more and more frequent, which was one of the reasons she was forced to wear glasses due to her vision steadily declining with every episode of pain. A Hyuuga with decaying vision wasn't the type of irony that escaped Kaori. She would joke about it in hindsight, but the rapid degeneration of her vision was something she did have concerns about; and she had a rather firm hypothesis on why it was happening. That wasn't something for her to think about right now. Once her vision returned to normal, she'd turn her attention back towards the apologizing Eiji and flashes a big smile in his direction. "At least you have something people in my home don't have," she mentioned, leaving it at that.

She returned her attention back towards the hunky, scarred-man named Kyo. She caught a glimpse at the man's reaction, believing his reaction was a delayed reaction to Kaori's looks and even posture towards him. This was an opportune time for her to play around with this guy. She slid next to the man and wrapped an arm around one of his bigger arms, pressing her chest against it. "A name like Kyo is such a strong name. I bet the man behind that towel is just as strong," she said with a little bit of a wink before releasing him. She started to float her way towards the drinks and poured herself one from the bottle of ice-cold sake and took a sip from it. She wasn't that interested in this Kyo person, but she did find an opening and felt the need to exploit it.

Her eyes noticed Aya's locking on to her's causing her to shrug her shoulders before taking a sip from the saucer. It wasn't her problem that the child decided to mention something about her age. After topping off the saucer, she waved-off the floating tray, causing currents of water to push it back towards the children, if they so decided to indulge themselves. If they were old enough to possibly die for the village, they were more than old enough to partake in the drink. That had been her philosophy since she started drinking at an age much younger than they were.

After dealing with the children, Kaori drifted towards one of the edges of the hotspring and cast her gaze back upon Kyo. "Nice to meet you, Kyo. You can call me," she said as she ran through calculations; whether it would be wise to give her real name to these people in the event that Maru would so-happen to show up or to give them her code-name in the event that Maru would so-happen to show up. After a brief moment of deliberation, she took a quick sip of her sake and responded. "Kaori. You can call me, Kaori, Kyo," she said truthfully.

She took another sip from the saucer and then moved the saucer with subtle movements, turning the liquid within in a circular motion. "But around a guy named Maru, call me Mizuho," she said before taking another sip. It was a long story that she didn't want to get into, but the more she was around people, the more she started to understand the appeal of teasing people and even the propensity to want to use pet-names. Perhaps Maru's stalking and his ramblings were starting to wear-off on her. Not that it was any of her fault due to the aforementioned stalking.

After introducing herself to the scarred-hunk-of-a-man, she turned her attention back to the children with her body slowly drifting towards Kyo, getting dangerously close but not close enough to actually touch him. "And you two?" she asked.

 

[Keigo Oen]

'Something people in her village didnt have?', it was evident that Eiji was amongst a foreign shinobi now. Though, maybe she was from somewhere else but ended up here. Much like how Aya got here, and how Eiji's family ended up in Kumogakure. Nomads tended to start clans after they were done traveling, which seemed to be the idea he was getting from Kaori. Or so she would eventually say her name was. This was... a complex company of people he would find himself with. Though, the world of shinobi was vast... so he would eventually have to get used to days and nights like these. Being surrounded by comrades and people from all walks of life. All Eiji cared about now was the girl nex-... shaking his head of that thought he looked up to Aya for a moment feeling something in his stomach. It almost made him sick... but in a good way?

It was an awkward feeling, but he'd soak himself a bit more in the pool allowing his thoughts to roam away from whatever that was previously going on. 'Kyo, is his name. She's fiendin' for that guy... geez can you get anymore... She's like Uri with his boyfriend. No tact.' Eiji wasnt into the whole public display of affection, PDA for short, thus he didnt see himself even after marriage (If that even happened with the line of work he was going into) being like them. And Maybe it would never happen, maybe he would have one night stands, or someone that he could have normal relations with but it never turned into something serious... Who knew in all honesty. He could be here one day... and gone the next, so what would he leave behind during all of this. It was apparent that he was thinking through these things and shook his head again, not wanting to get too deep into philosophical thoughts. "I didnt get a chance to try it... but I guess its for the better, dont wanna be all loopy. Yanno?", nodding a bit trying to find the beat of the world in his head, but his body was so relaxed yet tense from the moments before that he couldnt find a rhythm.

The woman turned her attention back on Eiji and Aya after fawning over Kyo and his muscles and his bod. IT was like she could be on an Axe commercial. "I'm Eiji of the Endo Clan.", then he'd let Aya have the floor for her name and such, "... Question, Where are you from if you're not from here? Or at least where is your home?", a tilt of the head would follow... but Eiji was visibly concerned, for why? Who knew...

 

[Sukuna Kiyo]

Aya blinked at Kaori when she told Ji that he had something her village didn't have. Was she dissing her own village? If she was from here she wouldn't be saying that. Aya was only left to assume what she meant though, and she conjectured what she meant was something she wouldn't say out loud. The new arrival introduces himself as Kyo, and the woman, Kaori went over and started being sexual. Aya had a look of disgust for a moment before sighing. She didn't like the idea of flirting like that with a complete stranger. Unless it was to get information, she didn't see what was the point of getting all touchy-feely. Maybe one day her mind would change about that.

"It takes two to get me loopy." Aya commented to Ji, suggesting this wasn't her first time drinking. She had a decent tolerance, but she'd need to work on it. Who knows what she'll be facing in the future. What if an enemy wanted her to drink till she spilled information? so she'd have to gain a higher tolerance in the future.

Kaori mentioned a man named Maru and Aya looked at Kaori and blinked. "You mean that idiot with a white mask, and fancy suit? Black hair, dual wields pistols?" Aya questioned bluntly. He was an imbecile to her, and crazy, but more of an idiot. But it was probably not wise to speak ill of the dead. She didn't care though so she'd still call him a nincompoop if she could. "He was burned at the gates the other day, he pulled a gun out on a working Anbu, and well, he died." She stated with a shrug, Aya didn't mean to seem inconsiderate, but the truth was, she didn't care.

After Ji introduced himself, Aya grinned "I'm Aya, Kozuki, Aya. " She stated in a confident tone of voice. Ji went on to ask his question, it was the same question aya had as well, but Ji asked it before she could.

[MFT]

 

[Hotaka Kyo]

Kyo watched the woman seem to have an issue with her eyesight, rubbing her eyes and shaking her head. He didn’t move to her, but he did speak softly, “The changes in temperatures can cause issues for non-natives, you should be careful.” It seemed that the other nin’s weren’t from the same village as the woman, as she said that they had something that her home didn’t flashing a smile towards the darker nin who had just apologized. Kyo was a bit relieved to find the woman had turned her attention to the others and pondered if perhaps they were indeed members of his own village, it would be rude to ask though, even if they seemed young, there were those that had graduated the academy at an exceptionally young age, and could have traveled.

The young man’s relief was cut short when she turned her attention back to him. When she slid her arm around him and complemented him she would notice his skin was not soft, feeling more like the hard stone of the ground than the pliable covering that normally accompanied the outside of one’s body. She would also notice the red creep up across his face had become more pronounced as he looked over and slight frown on his face, Kyo was finding that he was easy enough to fluster in these situations, it didn’t help that he had actually felt her touch more sharply than normal. He wasn’t sure if it was due to him being acutely aware of the woman before him, or if it was something else, like the combination of the hot springs and the woman. While he didn’t speak it, his mind answered her “I’m a mouse carrying an elephant.”

When she released him and moved off Kyo had relaxed a bit, sinking deeper into the water and leaning his head back with his eyes closed for a moment before he came back. He once again paid attention to the others in the bath; he watched the woman get another drink and took a moment to retrieve the bottle from the bucket where he had let it float near him. He drank some of the cool liquid, the difference in temperature between the springs and the water was pleasant and distracting, and he seemed more at ease when he replaced the bottle’s cap.

When the woman turned from her drink and eventually spoke her name Kyo nodded, when she added that around a man named Maru to call her Mizuho he made note of it. He wasn’t sure why she would mention a random man that was not here? He didn’t ponder it too long, partially because she was addressing the others as she came close once again, but also because he didn’t know what to make of it. She may have been referencing spending more time together later or simply that the man had a terrible habit of showing up where ever she was. It seemed though that the Young female nin possibly knew who was spoken of and claimed he was killed, burned to death for pulling a gun on an ANBU while on duty, a act that sounded as if it proved quite quickly fatal to the ignorant nin. When the two introduced themselves he would give them each a nod, acknowledging them, and was thankful enough that the one Called Eiji had asked the question he had. It meant they were most likely follow Cloud Nins.

Kyo realized his silence could be considered rude, he hadn’t responded verbally to anything that had been said so far, his laconic nature was always more pronounced around multiple people, and the situation at hand was one that had flustered him, helping to reinforce that nature. He had only spoken when the Kaori had rubbed her eyes behind her glasses. Even still he had nothing to say that wouldn’t be forced, instead of speaking he decided to make a more concentrated effort. He was also making a concentrated effort not to look over and down at Kaori as she spoke, his height giving him a pleasant view, which didn't help.

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

Eiji started off by asking Kaori where she came from. This lead her to ponder whether to tell them the truth or not, causing her to stop and pause for a moment, placing a finger upon her chin in thought. After a brief moment of self-deliberation, she turned her eyes towards the child that asked and simply answered, "Konoha," she said with a shrug, obvious that she wasn't too happy to have been associated with that village. There was nothing there for her. Certainly, her family was still there, but after having lived most of her life with them wanting to surrender her to a demon; she still has reservations of wanting to spend too much time with them. Even after their belief in dragons faded, after Kaori revealed the truth about their wacky beliefs that the dragons they worshiped were actually Eldritch Horrors, she still didn't trust them to not find something else to be fanatics about. Whether they start following Kaori in a cult-like behavior or not, it's just not normal!

It was at this time that Aya mentioned, what could've been, Maru's demise. This caused Kaori to float over to the bottle of soju and started to drink from the bottle. She didn't take too kindly to the news about Maru's death. As much as the man annoyed him, she kinda liked him in a way; nothing romantic or anything like that. He gave her what she desired for a long time. He paid attention to her, even if it was in a creepy way, but she still gained a little bit of attention. It was like medicine for how long she had been alone in other countries performing odd-jobs and exorcising the demons within the Dragon Statues. She didn't have a traveling companion during this time so someone actually giving her positive attention was something she enjoyed in a strange, masochistic manner.

She took another big drag from the soju bottle. "He's not an idiot. He was misguided. He was a good person, but a little creepy," Kaori said before replacing the now half-empty bottle of soju back upon the floating tray. "You don't happen to know who killed him, did you?" she asked. She was in kind of a foul mood right now. It wasn't disbelief that Maru got killed as it was inevitable with how weird he was and the fact that he couldn't just act normal. She's starting to get the feeling that everyone who comes into contact with her were either cursed to die or go away in some horrific fashion. This news caused her to block out any and all information other than a name from whomever may know the answer.

She was in that stage between grief and anger with any additional stimuli tipping her to either spectrum. All she waited for was an answer from either of these 3, for a name, so she could go and confront the person about this.

 

[Keigo Oen]

'Konoha, eh? I wonder why she felt like she had authority to bind me like she did... She might be a diplomat, and thats definitely above my pay grade.' nodding to himself he would look over to Aya. She was definitely someone that Eiji respected, but would he tell her that? Nah, not yet. He wanted her to feel defeat first... so he would smirk. "Aya. Next week, You and Me. The Colosseum. We'll finally get that spar... unless you're afraid you'll be be shown a slacker! Hehe!", smirking he would leap out of the pool to the concrete edge. His clothes didnt help his case as the shorts he had on stuck to his body like spandex! He'd quickly cover himself with a nearby towel but it might've been too late on it... but he wasnt a boy that honestly should care.. but it was embarrassing either way.

"You dont have tah answer now... Answer when you show up.", nodding he would bow to Kaori and Kyo, "Thank you for your company... and if you're up for a show of the new generation... By all means come.", nodding he would begin out of the scene. It was time to prepare for Aya. He knew she wouldnt turn him down... or would she? Who knew... but he would seek to grow. And the only way to do it was to test oneself.

"...You cant beat her how you are." the voice again in the back of Eiji's mind but he shook it off this time...... he didnt need negativity. He needed to believe in his ability. And as he would leave... the voice would egg him on but he wouldnt oblige, not today. Aya was his rival. He needed everything he could to fuel him. Once out he would head off back to the teahouse, more work to be done before he would train a bit...

[Topic Left unless stopped]

 

[Sukuna Kiyo]

Aya blinked at Kaori, she didn't think of him as an idiot. Anyone trying to break into a village alone is an idiot, and those who thought otherwise are blind. Though this woman seemed to have a temper and wasn't afraid to use her jutsu. When she asked Aya whether she knew who killed him, Aya shrugged. "I doubt you would know the Identities of your own ANBU, " Aya replied, SHe'd only know if she was an ANBU, but Aya wasn't, yet."I don't know who the anbu was." She stated to make sure she knew that she was saying she didn't know.

Aya looked at Ji when he challenged her and smirked, "If anyone is slacking, it's you." Aya retorted, "I'm not scared to fight you." She said with a nod, she'd have to plan something out, but could she fight him? She probably could. But she wasn't sure just yet.

Aya waved to Ji as he left, she then looked at the other two, and realized she didn't want to be left alone in a bath with an outsider who could kill her if she wanted to, and ... a man. She wasn't sure about him, it was Kaori who worried her. "Welp I better go too, I have studying to go do... and training... Maybe some food... uh, well see you guys later." Aya spoke while she was getting out of the water, she didn't rush to grab a towel like Ji, either because she didn't feel embarrassed or she was too busy trying to say what she wanted to say.

After that Aya covered up and went into the woman's changing room to get dressed quickly. Then she left as soon as she could.

[TLUS]

 

[Hotaka Kyo]

The woman explained that she was from Konoha, one of the other major villages, she didn't appear to happy to tell them that, though Kyo didn't know much about it outside of the information he had learned in the academy and some minor interaction from merchants and travelers that provided bits and pieces here and there. It wasn't enough to give a full picture of life there, of course he doubted one could get a full picture of life in a village with out living there for some time regardless. Kyo for his part was happy with living here in Kumo, it was a pleasant enough place, with capable nin, even if he felt that the dealings with students were to lax amongst other things, he was working on his own to correct some of the issues he had with the village and see to its improvements on his own.

Kyo watched the change in behavior and shook his head a slight bit as the woman Kaori went and began to drink directly from the bottle, lamenting the apparent death of one of her colleges. Though when she asked about who had killed him the hair on Kyo's neck stirred, this may very well cause a major problem, he knew he wouldn't want to stand by if he was visiting another village and one of his companions, even those he disliked, had been killed by local ninjas. Aya answered the female nin's question shortly afterwards, informing her that she did not, which was likely the truth of the matter, not many knew ANBU's identities, and unless one was closely paying attention to it, even identifying the mask could be difficult. The scored man stood from his position and approached her just as she took another drag on the bottle and asked about who if they knew who it was that had killed the man. "Kaori-san, I am sorry for your loss. But I ask that you consider your any action you may take carefully before doing so, consider whether your companion would wish such an ill fate to befall you as well." Kyo paused, a bit of concern for the leaf-nin showing on his face, he wasn't good with attempting to comfort others, he considered putting a hand on her shoulder to reassure her, but decided against it, he wasn't sure how it would come off, "Once you calm down, you can officially seek the information you asked for from the Deathwatch, or possibly the ANBU, though I'm sure how much they will provide."

When the other two agreed to a fight, and told them that they could attend it to see what the new generation could do, Kyo made note of it. He was interested in knowing that information for a fact, it would help him attend to plans in the future, though he quickly put it out of his mind after returning the bow with a bend of his head and shoulders to Eiji, his companion Aya left quickly after him, Kyo himself needed to spend more time in the hot springs, he wasn't really here for comfort, even if it was comfortable, it was by orders that he had attended it in the first place. Still, he might better serve to accompany the woman to ensure she did not follow suit of her companion, and cause an incident. He felt bad for her, but he couldn't let that get int eh way of what was his duty, "I can show you where you need to go, and help you put in the information requests if you wish." He paused a moment before adding, "You can find me in the Hotaka Compound if you decide later that you would like my assistance in this or another matter, should you not wish for my help at this time." Kyo had said his piece, he doubted it would get through at the moment, but he had put forth the effort to provide assistance, and with out forcing something that was all he could do for now.

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

The answer given to her that it was a masked ANBU didn't do anything to help her mental state right now. Her eyes shifted around for a moment before Eiji broke the silence about a potential fight between the two that Kaori called 'love-birds' earlier. Kaori turned her eyes to Eiji a bit and forced out a smile to him. "Sure, I'll be there to watch you both duke it out," she said before the two of them took off out of the bath, as if they had other things to do. As the two of them bolted, she turned her eyes towards Kyo who seemed to be staying put for the time being. She turned her eyes away from Kyo and took a hold of the small bottle of sake and started to down it, uncharacteristically for her to waste sake in this manner.

"I don't even know who did it, so it would be a waste of time trying to find out. It's why I hate the fucking ANBU. Cowards who hide behind a mask," she said before finishing off the bottle and tossed it behind her, perfectly tossing it into the bucket that she brought with her. She then reached over to grab the bottle of soju and started to sip on this. She remembered slamming down soju before and only a complete moron would do that. Even while she was mourning, there was no way she'd actually lose her nerve to completely guzzle that down. She'd rather not go blind.

"I guess there is no difference with those masked-cowards regardless of where you go!" she said as her hand started to shake out of anger. She took another big sip from the bottle and turned her attention back to Kyo, some tears-welling up in her eyes. She didn't really like Maru much, but she was thankful for the attention he gave her. Her solitude and the fact that she felt like an outcast amongst her family and even 'friends' in Konoha made her yearn for the attention; and the attention given by Maru was a blessing within a curse. She closed her eyes for a moment and wiped her eyes with her other hand.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt anyone. I do plan on making this place my home some day. Better than going back to that shit-hole that I came from," she said before leaning back upon the hotsprings for a very brief moment before she placed the bottle back upon the floating tray. With this, she placed both of her hands over her eyes and started to weep. After taking a few moments, she wiped her eyes with her palms and sniffled a bit. "Don't worry. I'll have to hold a funeral for him tomorrow. Even if he doesn't have a body, I'll have to perform the proper rites for him," she said before clearing her throat and attempted to regain her composure.

As she started to cool down, she turned her eyes down into the reflection of the water. She saw her reflection in the water transform to that of a man bearing red-hair, a person she had seen once before. Her eyes widen as she heard the words, in her own head, "Come and get me already, witch! I'm tired of waiting!" She was the only one that could hear the voice and she was the only one that could see the change in reflection. She jumped upon hearing and seeing this, turning to look towards the one that was in the hotspring with her for a moment. She had that look on her face as if she was staring at a ghost. After the brief moment, she turned to look back at the reflection to see her own face in it.

She shuddered, breaking the feeling of ever-approaching dread. She curled her back as the chill ran up her spine. "Sorry about that, heh," Kaori said, placing a hand behind her head and let out a little chuckle, a stark difference from her broody attitude from earlier. She returned to the bottle and brought it back up to her lips and took another sip.

 

[Hotaka Kyo]

Kyo watched Kaori turn away and begin to drink straight from the bottle of sake. It seemed the news had hit her hard enough that she was looking to dull the pain through a bit of drinking, which he had seen plenty of times before, though he never indulged in it himself. He didn’t need the reduction in self-control that it brought along with it, it would lead to him doing things he may very well regret, and perhaps falling back down a path he had finally strayed from. Kyo tiled his head slightly to the side and nodded at the woman’s statement, “It’s unfortunate that they are needed in this world of ours.” He replied when she cursed the ANBU, the elite were needed, they did what was necessary in this world that others would or could not, something of a necessary branch, which was why they were found in all of the villages.

While Kyo felt that her next statement wasn’t true, he couldn’t say one way or another, he only had any experience with Kumo’s own ANBU, so if others acted the same way or not he couldn’t say. Kyo moved to stand next to the woman as she wiped at her face, he wasn’t sure how to comfort her, as she continued on with what she was saying. “That is good that you don’t plan on harming anyone. And while I’m sure you’d be welcome here, I can’t say anything about your current village.” When she started to weep Kyo wasn’t quite sure what to do, his first thought was to do as he did for his younger brothers, to put an arm around her and hold her tight and let her cry, but knew it would be very inappropriate due to their current location, isolation, and most especially clothing or lack thereof. Instead he attempted to awkwardly put a hand on her shoulder and pat her gently while she was crying. When she finished he would remove his hand, “I’ll attend the funeral and pay my respects to the man, if you have no objections to me doing so.” He understood that funerals were normally a sad affair, and a single person at a funeral all alone could be worse than normal and felt it was the right thing to do to offer to be there.

Kyo wasn’t used to dealing with situations like this, most of the time there were those crying around him, they were either someone he would be ignoring them, usually someone crying about losing a person or because he had found the missing person, that someone had died and other things on mission, or it was one of his Flock, who hadn’t hardened up enough yet. Those he would slap a hand on the shoulder and talk about how they would need to toughen up, avoid doing that in front of others, and talk to them about why they should do that. The only other time was with his family, well more specifically his brothers, who he loved dearly. When woman with the glasses jumped and looked at him as if he was something he most assuredly was not, he frowned slightly as she looked back into the reflection and shuddered. He quickly wiped the look from his face and gave a small sad smile instead, “It is no problem,” he dismissed it before adding, “but I ask that you go easy on the drink, it only hides things, it doesn’t make them better.” He spoke to her gently; he didn’t know where she lived, nor how she was when she was drunk. He couldn’t exactly take her home with him if she passed out, not only because of the fact he would never hear the end of it from his family, but also for the sake of both of their reputations.