Karaoke is my Weapon 2!! [Open, Please Join]

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

The night is still young and a cool wind blew through the Susukino District; kicking up the cloth awnings, long and wild hair of the girls who spent far-too much time on their make-up, and chilling those who weren't accustomed to the weather to the bone. Kaori fit 2 of the three categories as she held her hand upon her head to make sure the small, yet expensive, accouterments from flying away or making far too much noise. She walked through the district, getting look-after-look from hungry guys (and even a couple gals) looking for (what they would perceive as) a cheap score. Kaori wasn't too interested in these nobodies who have far inferior looks and even far-more inferior personalities. They weren't the strong, silent type that she had romanticized about since her youth so they weren't suitable for her. There was one particular store that she wanted to go to; one with a big neon microphone as it's sign.

The sign, itself, flickered a few times while giving off a dull buzzing noise with each flicker. The last time she went to a karaoke bar was for a brief stay in Tea, where a certain specific puppet-man ruined the time for her. Thankfully, behind the steel curtain of Kumogakure, she felt safe knowing that he wouldn't come busting in through a random, expensive window to sexually harass her. Certainly, his candid personality COULD be quite charming if it happened every now-and-then, but having it switched to on and left on got annoying and grated at her.

Entering the establishment, Kaori closed the door and fixed everything about her from her disheveled hair to her disheveled clothes. Clearing her throat, she walked up and ordered a room, a rather big room at that, to sing. She also ordered a round of drinks big enough for 4 people to the room in about 10 minutes. She wasn't expecting any company as the entire round of drinks was for herself (and herself only). Making her way into the room, she sat down and started to remove some of the additional clothing that she wore used as 'compliments' to her design, leaving her with just the bare bit of clothing that she'd wear on a day-to-day basis; besides she wore all of those mainly for the cold (and the fact that it looked cute).

She rummaged through her bag and pulled out a microphone and turned it on. A couple taps on the microphone tested that it worked, being able to hear the thumps over the speaker system. After taking a moment to flip through the song book, she found a specific song she wanted to sing. "Ooooh! They have this song here too!" Clearing her throat, she turned the song on and started to sing..

​

After the song was over, there was a knock on the door with Kaori speaking into the microphone saying "Come on in!" she said as a boy about her age came in, dressed in the usual fare of snazzy outfits holding a tray full of liquor and other assortments of alcohol. He came in, knelt down, and put the drinks upon the table. Kaori simply winked at the guy before he stopped to look at her, a blush sprawled across his cheeks, before nervously scooting out of the room, leaving the door slightly cracked. She flipped through the book to find another song and just kept flipping for a few moments. "The selection here is kinda wimpy, hmm. Tea's selection was SO much better!" she lamented before finding another good song.

[Topic Opened. Anyone can join!]

 

[Otani Ryuichi]

Ryuichi had been walking through the Susukino district on an errand to grab some extra clothes and a toothbrush for his recent residence, considering he had forgotten most of his belongings at his own place. He was carrying a bag filled with three nicely folded outfits, all being the exact same nearly colorless attire he always wore as well as a red scarf for when it got cold.

While walking towards the area surrounding the Colosseum his stomach grumbled, and he gave a small sigh in return. The white haired boy had a few funds left for a quick bite, but he had no clue where to eat. He wasn't in the mood for much, and the things he did want were way out of his way. Ryuichi looked around once more letting one neon sign catch his interest. "A karaoke place? I could totally go for some junk food." He mumbled to himself.

Upon entering he was met with the small of carpet cleaner and booze, and winced. There were no kinds of warnings against minors so he just went with it, walking up to get a booth. Before he could ask, the man at the desk told him. "There's an hourly fee for the booths." pointing to a sign, the man didn't break his line of sight from Ryuichi. Ryuichi noticed that even from several feet away he could tell that the air was slightly off whenever he spoke. Was this alcohol on his breath? He had no idea considering the yard or so between them, but quickly realized his shortage of funds. He wouldn't be able to have a booth for an hour, let alone get the food he wanted.

Quickly, he had to come up with a lie. "Uhm. Someone is waiting for me, ya know?" He said, not wavering. The man nodded, and simply walked down the hallway with a hand gesture to signal Ryuichi to follow. 'Right. I can just wait till he leaves then get into a booth that's empty, eat my junk food, then leave.' He thought, as they got to the door. The man then said, "here's the only place with open space, and someone else. This has gotta be it." And with that he unlocked it using a key, and Ryuichi twitched. Right....the booths are locked to people outside. He couldn't get into one. And now he was backed into a wall.

He just had to keep calm, and act natural. "Oh, right. thanks." He said, as he was let inside. When the door closed behind him he flinched, seeing the woman at the mic. Quickly he waved his hands in front of him, and said "I'm sorry ma'am! I just wanted to get a booth for some junk food and all, but the fee woulda left me broke. I tried to get into a room free, but uhm...the other ones were locked, and they let me in here." He noted the alcoholic beverages galore inside, and sighed. "So would ya mind if I just buy myself some fried food and leave you be? I won't touch the drinks that are here for you and your friends."

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

There was a blank expression upon Kaori's face as she heard the door open and a child walked in. A look of inquisition crossed her eyes as the child was let-in without her permission. The boy seemed to be 14, maybe 15 years old at the most. She looked the boy over and patted a seat right next to her. If the boy is here for just junk-food and found his way into HER booth, she's going to have a little fun with this boy. ((NO! Not in that way, perverts!)) She hiccuped s the alcohol started to take effect. "Oh, if you want to stay here, you gotta pay a tax. And that tax is 'Do whatever it is Pretty-Lady-Kaori wants'," she said with a sheepish grin upon her face. The smell of booze emanating off of her. She was in her early twenties, but didn't mind spreading some fun to the younger generation; especially adorably reserved people like the one that just walked in.

A hand, once again, pat the space right next to her as she scooted over in the booth. Whether he came to sit next to her (or not) didn't matter as she grabbed one of the remaining drinks and held it up for Ryuichi. "C'mon! Have a drink! I can order us some junkfood if you want. I don't get a chance to karaoke with others without something stupid happening, so keep me some company?" she asked giving Ryuichi a pair of puppy-dog eyes, pleading for him to keep her company (in a platonic manner). "Oh! And this is for you!" she said as she placed the drink in front of him.

She stood up, stumbling a bit before regaining her balance, before walking over towards the phone. "What kinda snacks you want?" she asked. If she was given the answer, she picked up the phone to order whatever junkfood he wanted and some more booze. If he didn't, she'd just order more booze; either way -- she was making that phone call! After the phone call was made, she took her spot next to Ryuichi, getting uncomfortably close to him. "So, what's your name?" she asked. The smell of peaches and booze prevalent. She raised her hands up and reached out to get the karaoke book and started to flip through the pages. An idea struck her and her sheepish grin crept across her face. She placed the book in Ryuichi's lap.

"How about you sing, hm?"

 

[Otani Ryuichi]

Ryuichi was surprised by the woman's actions, and quickly flinched. With the lingering scent of alcohol on her breath, and exaggerated actions, he guessed she was at least a little drunk, or getting to that point. When she mentioned this supposed 'tax' Ryuichi looked her up and down, and gave her a deadpan expression, thinking 'Calling yourself pretty....You must be single.' With that he shrugged. "Sure. I'll do it." he said, as a crawling red blush took over his cheeks. He didn't really care about girls, but the awkward situation on top of the lingering stench of alcoholic drinks made him feel awkward.

Kaori's offer for a drink was quickly turned down by Ryuichi, who sat down at a free space in the booth, and looked at the sleek menu that was sitting in a shelf on the wall, which had a small assortment of foods for order. "I'm way too young to drink. My.....teacher.... would kill me." He said, looking over the ridiculous amount of the stuff that she had already gotten, along with a dew empty glasses. "If ya don't mind, I just wanna order a tray of Melonpan, and some fried dried squid. And er...sure. I can hang around for a bit. I just gotta get to the apartment before sundown. My name is Otani Ryuichi, but you don't have to worry about formalities."

He was lost in thought thinking about one more thing he wanted to eat before he went broke. Normally with fried dried squid some beef stew would be fantastic, but this place was far from a family owned joint who just made comfort food. This place had food that was good as a party snack, or while you were drunk. In any case, Ryuichi was soon pulled away from his thoughts as Kaori dropped the karaoke book on him. He sighed, and ran his fingers through his hair. "I can play the flute, but I have the worst singing voice. I'm uhm...still going through voice cracks when I try too hard." He chuckled, which helped ease a bit of the tension, and he started looking through all the artists. "But I can give it a try...." He then settled on something that seemed to have a pretty easy vocal range. He typed the number into the karaoke booth, and let out a sigh, and the blush on his face went away by a pretty great degree seeing that he hadn't been in much of an awkward situation. This woman was drunk anyways, so it's not like she'd remember him very well. Just sing, enjoy your Melonpan and squid, then call it a day.

Then the song started to play, and he did his best to sing along with the music, complete with the occasional voice crack and off-key word or two

​

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

Kaori ordered everything under her name and even put it under her tab. She had a LOT of money to blow, having spent very little during her times of travel throughout the world in search of the Dragon Statues. She knew there was one here in Cloud, but that isn't her mission at the moment. Her mission, right now, is to ensure her charge (Yomi) had a safe place to stay here and to wait here until further instructions were received. Until then, blowing off a bit of steam was in order. Thankfully, she was nestled in a safe-hub away from the lecherous puppet named Maru. After the order was made, she turned to look towards the boy who addressed himself as Ryuichi and flashed a big smile at him. She wasn't too interested in guys; while she did have SOME interest, this kid just isn't her type; besides he was also a bit too young for her.

"Well met, Ryuichi. You can call me, Kaori. But if I was followed by a guy who calls me 'Hon' or 'Sweet-Thing' I never gave you my name, okay?" she said as she poked her head out of the door to make sure she wasn't followed by that lech. It was then that she went to sit down next to the boy and drop the book on him. It was interesting to know that he played an instrument. While she wasn't all that practiced at using instruments, she used her voice to do what she needed. Having been trained in the art of the voice by a famous Leaf idol did have it's perks. It's been a while since she had spoken to anyone in FiRe Studios; maybe if she ever returned to Fire Country, she should drop by and say hello (at the very least).

She snapped out of her thoughts when the boy mentioned the downfalls of his singing and she clapped her hands. "It's alright, you're still growing. I had that problem when I was growing up too. And it doesn't matter how bad you are. It's karaoke! Nobody cares because everyone's drunk!" she said as she reached over, grabbed another shot-glass and downed the burning liquid instantly, letting out a gasp afterwards.

As Ryuichi began to sing, she grabbed her beer and raised it up, swinging from side-to-side like people would with lighters. She closed her eyes to listen to the song, taking a drink from the beer every now-and-then before raising it back up into the air, swaying from side-to-side. The cracking voice was the only thing she noticed, being a bit too inebriated to even be bothered by the fact that he was off-key for quite a bit of it. After the boy finished singing, she placed her drink down and clapped for him. "You have some talent, Ryuichi! Now now! Let's do a duet! I've wanted to sing this song for SO long. Let's try it!" she said as she took the book into her lap and flipped through it. The more she flipped through it, the more annoyed she got. Her expression got more and more obvious as she got further into the book.

It wasn't until the last page did she find the song and a look of joy jumped up and onto her face! "The Garden of Everything! I'm surprised this village has this song!" she said as she clicked a few buttons prompting the song to start. She looked around for the spare microphone, taking hers back and giving him the spare.

​

The song started off somber, with Ryuichi, who she was 'encouraging' to join the song. "I hope your common is polished up," she said as she waited for her queue to sing in unison before the song diverges into Imbroglio with Ryuichi singing in common and Kaori speaking in 'Japanese'.

WC: 640
[MFT]

 

[Otani Ryuichi]

Ryuichi walked away from the mic, and sighed. "A duet? I can barely do it on my own." He stated, before remembering the situation he was in. The lady could become full-blown drunk at any minute if she kept drinking, so there was no point in trying to keep any dignity. "Alright. Fine. I can try it out. I won't understand a lick of it though." He noted at the different language. Regardless he would humor her, and try to sing along.

After 6 minutes of having a tied tongue, and not hitting the notes right at all the song finally ended, and ryuichi found himself laughing while falling backwards on a seat. "Lady, you have a weird taste in music." He said, remembering how his dad used to always play songs for him that he learned on long fishing trips. Of course, these songs were primarily just instrumental or along the lines of a sea shanty, but it was what Ryuichi grew up with so he took a liking to it. A lack of lyrics to sing did mean he wouldn't find anything like that in a karaoke place, though.

"You keep saying 'this village' and stuff like that, so I guess you're not from kumo, right? Where are ya from? What kind of music do ya have at home?" He asked, wanting to kill some time before the food items showed up. He would have to remember to thank Kaori for putting it on her own tab later tonight, but it would be awkward to randomly drop a 'thanks' while trying to start some small talk. "I've been here all my life, ya see? My dad fishes, and sometimes goes to places like suna to sell dried fish whenever he gets a big load so I used to get a lot of stories of the world...when he was home at least."

[wc:318]

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

Kaori puffed out her cheeks at the boy's initial protest of the song before she followed-suit. He was off-key, struck the notes absolutely incorrect, and probably even messed up some of the wording. It wouldn't have been AS painful to listen to if he wasn't the one taking the absolute lead and Kaori being the backup singer. She didn't mind if the boy goofed up, it wasn't an easy song to begin with and the fact that Kaori sang a good portion of the song singing words contrary to what he was singing might have thrown him off. After the song was over, she sighed out with delight and nodded her head. He didn't do TOO awful; she had most definitely heard worse. She clicked her microphone off and turned to look towards Ryuichi and assesses him a bit. With a gentle rub of her chin, she nodded her head.

"Yes, you have a lot of potential to be a good singer. Just some practice and the right attitude and you'll be an absolute HEART-THROB! Oh, Cloud would just adore you. Especially since you have such a cute face," she said as she reached over and pinched his cheeks in an endearing manner. It was then that the boy commented on her taste of music and the cheek-pinching went from a rather playful manner to something a bit more annoyed. Clearing her throat, she withdrew her hand from his cheek so not to hurt the child and stamped her foot upon the ground. "There is NOTHING wrong with my taste in music. Hrmph!" she said as she crossed her arms over her chest and turned her head for a moment like a petulant child throwing a tantrum.

After a brief moment, she reached over and grabbed the final shot and downed it quickly as her cheeks started to flush over with a bright red tint. She pointed the empty shot-glass in Ryuichi's direction and said with annoyance. "Maybe you just don't have refined taste. You probably like that 'bleep-bloop' bullshit that people call music now-a-days," she said as she went for the shot and realized it was empty after a couple attempts. Ryuichi's inquisitive questions struck her with a sigh. She didn't particularly like talking about her home, but she was drunk and she didn't particularly care at this moment.

"No, I'm from Konohagakure. Apparently that place is being run by a total douche-bag who abuses his power," she said as she went to take another shot from the still-empty shot glass. She had a single experience from the man who is currently Hokage before he came into power and what she perceived to be 'abuse of power' stuck with her even to this day; and that event happened 11 years ago. "Haven't been back in years and I don't plan on going back. If this is where Yomi wants to call home, then so will I," she said before there was a knocking at the door. With a little grumble, she stumbled up to her feet and opened the door to see the man with a tray-full of junk-food and drinks. She smiled at the man awkwardly due to her inebriated state and whispered, "Put it on my bill," she said as the man nodded his head and went off. She closed the door and placed the tray-full of junk and drinks on the table.

"Gosh, that's a lot of junk-food. You do enough exercise to burn all that off?" she asked with a hiccup. She certainly does enough exercise to burn off the excess fat that she would gain from this alcohol, even if it feels awful to do the very next day. It was at this time when Ryuichi started to tell his life story to Kaori. She only smiled, wishing for a simple life like that. She took one of the drinks, replacing the empty shot-glass she had in her hand and took the shot. "I wish my life was that simple. I was next-in-line to be sacrificed to a god," she said before taking another one of the drinks and shooting it instantly, feeling the burn shoot through her throat. "You should go see the world sometime. I mean, traveling to Tea is actually safe right now due to the tournament that won't end. Should *hic* try it out sometime," she commented.

 

[Otani Ryuichi]

"I don't....really care about potential." He said with a shrug, "I'm not trying to be a singer anyways. I like instrumental music, like the sakuhachi I play-" He was cut off by the drunk woman's ramblings, realizing that she had said he had a....cute face?

"Eeeeeeeeey lady! My face is not cute!" He said, pulling his scarf up his face to hide his blush of embarrassment. "I am a cold hearted badASs!" He says with a voice crack, getting even more flustered. He just decided to shut up, and shake his head. "Anyways. I don't like 'bleep-bloop' music either. I like a song to have raw structure ya know? Something you can't just make on a repeating tune. I kind of want to learn more instruments, but I've gotten really busy with...school." He says, hesitating on the word 'school'. "But I stand by your music taste being all whack. Listen to some classical stuff some time." He jokes, finally being able to switch her attention with the next question.

"Konoha seems nice. All those trees must be great for shade on hot days. Shame it's being led by a jeezwag...at least from what you're saying." He let her rant for a moment as the food came in, and Ryuichi's junk food came in, and he dug in right away, taking a bite out of a fresh melonpan treat. After swallowing it, and nodding, he continued with the conversation. "People tend to do that. It does seem a little silly to leave everything behind just because of a leader, though. It's not like they're actively trying to start war, or screw over the public are they? But hey, that's just me. An idiot kid who's going through puberty a few years late." He then continued to eat his melonpan, eventually finishing to move onto a plate of fried dried squid snacks.

"And yeah. I exercise every day, so don't worry about that. Extra calories just means more muscle mass, right? I'll get ripped." He joked, popping one of the salty, mostly disliked snacks into his mouth. "And I don't wanna leave kumo just yet. I'm busy for a while. I probably will travel when I get the chance to, though." He then holds one of the deep fried goodies up to Kaori. "Try one. My old man says it's good when drinking. I just like em' on their own, though...not old enough to drink."

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

Again, Kaori puffed out her cheek at the boy's 'lack of fun' with the things he was saying. He would've made a great idol; a heart-throb for all of the young teenage girls who would eventually grow up to women. He'd have his 'pick of the litter' at that point. Kaori shrugged her shoulders; his loss, not hers. It wasn't until the boy proclaimed his lack of 'cute' and covered himself only to call himself a 'badASs' did Kaori just absolutely lose her composure. She placed both her her arms down to her gut and doubled-over in laughter. Seeing someone with a sweet and innocent face like his calling himself a 'badASs' just made her day. She wiped a tear from her eye as he started to justify his taste in music.

A sigh of relief washed over her. It was her impression that the child would listen to that 'blip bloop' type of music. It's normal for this generation to listen to that non-sense and not take part in the artistic beauty of music. Upon hearing the refutation of the claim, Kaori just smiled at him warmly just before being interrupted by a hiccup. Her expression changed to a rolling of her eyes at the mention of the new 'ruler' of Konoha. "I've only ever met the guy once and he didn't leave a very good impression. Who knows, it's been about 10 years, so he could have changed," she said backpedaling slightly. She doubts it though.

She waved him off about his opinion on it being a 'silly reason' to leave. "Oh, that's not why I left. Only, actually, found that out recently. I was actually outside of the village during the 'change-of-command' so it's actually news to me," she said before she reached her arms straight into the air, stretching her arms and sides out. The sound of her joints popping and her muscles doing the same could be heard plainly by herself and even by Ryuichi.

Kaori placed a hand upon her cheek and laughed at the boy's innocent way of saying that he'd get toned due to his exercise. It was quite charming of the boy, even when offering some of his fried treats. Not being one to deny food, she reached over and grabbed one of the fried treats and popped it into her mouth and there was instant satisfaction upon her face. "Mmm. Yes. Your father is onto something," she said as she finished the little morsel, licking her fingertips clean of any oil and crumbs. She was FAR too young to drink when she first started, sneaking in a few saucers of sake here and there, especially while Yomi wasn't looking.

She waved off the idea of 'being too young to drink' with a laugh. "If you're old enough to die for your village, you're old enough for a drink," she said as she reached over and took yet another drink and downed it instantly. "It's kind of a stupid rule. 'Oh, medical knowledge suggests it'll harm development, blah blah blah'. Not like we shinobi have a good track record for long lives anyway," she said as a budding medical ninja from Konoha. "I mean *hic*, hell! I almost didn't live to be 11. But that's a long story," she said as she took one of the shot glasses and placed it in front of Ryuichi.

"One shot ain't gonna *hic* kill ya!" she said before taking one of the bottles of beer and took a sip from it.

 

[Otani Ryuichi]

Seeing Kaori trying to get him to drink, Ryuichi skoot himself a reasonable distance away, and used both hands to push the air in front of him, signalling he wanted some personal space from her. "Sorry lady. I'm not gonna drink. I'm from kumo. Me getting caught breaking the law would screw my chances later...and wait." Ryuichi tilted his head, grabbing another piece of fried squid. "How about you...tell me that story? It sounds great. Like it's full of adventure, and wonder in the life of a...BEAUTIFUL and wonderful young woman." He said, knowing that she was probably getting wasted at this point. Any way he could use to avoid drinking that gross smelling stuff the better.

Even if he had to kiss her ass. "And you are sooooo right. You shinobi just die all the time. Only the most skilled nin can survive like you do!" He said, almost making himself physically sick.

 

[Kanagawa Nozomi]

If Kaori wasn't on her journey to being wasted, she'd probably get a bit angry about the patronizing attitude presented by Ryuichi. However, her ability to care much, while inebriated, had been thrown out the window; among other things. She puffed out her cheeks in disappointment and annoyance of the child and slid all of the drinks her way, taking another drink from the beer that she was nursing. She raised the bottle of beer towards the boy, "It isn't exactly something I like talking about. I mean it's not every day you become a sacrifice to a nameless god," she said before taking an even bigger drink from her bottle. "Besides, I don't like you well enough *hic* to tell you my life-story. You won't even do a girl a favor and drink with her," she said, eyeballing the youth. She knew it was against the law to make a child drink, but she was beyond caring about petty laws anyway. Things were just different here than they were in Konoha.

And then Ryuichi started to pour it on thick. No matter how much alcohol Kaori consumed, she KNEW this was patronizing and generally insulting. She doesn't know how the leadership in Cloud are, still baffled that this was a shinobi village due to the inferior numbers of ninja she had encountered here, but if this place was anything like Konoha -- everyone's life was at stake. One mis-step and your career as a shinobi was pretty much over. She nodded the tip of her bottle in Ryuichi's direction and shook her head. "I guess it must be nice to be blissfully ignorant," she said in a haughty manner before finishing off the bottle and setting it down upon the table. She grew bored of this boy before shifting gears back to the karaoke book. The fact that this child was as sarcastic as she was when she was his age didn't do her too many favors.

She found a song, placing a finger upon it to keep her place. Violet eyes turned to look into Ryuichi's directly. "Well, you have your snacks. You're free to go," she said dismissively. It was obvious that she was a little hurt by the boy's attitude and just wanted to be alone. She had lost a lot of friends while performing her duties as a shinobi and as that Shrine Maiden of the Tenkawa Shrine. Most of which weren't shinobi, but other people 'not strong enough' to handle conflict. She had also been responsible for the deaths of many innocent people to include the people of the town of Muraki. Their deaths weren't due to their weakness, but it was due to her own weakness from being able to protect them. She was also reminded of her best friend, Mina, who wanted to grow up to be a strong shinobi; a promise the two of them made to one another.

Her eyes turned back towards Ryuichi as she prepped the microphone and placed it against her lips. "I don't think we'll ever meet again. It was nice meeting you," she said as her voice billowed from the speakers attached to the walls of the karaoke booth.

 

[Otani Ryuichi]

Ryuichi was quickly shot down by her increasingly upset attitude caused by him trying to avoid a drink. He sighed, and grabbed A shot glass, pouring the most watered down, fruitiest drink at the table. He looked at it, then to Kaori, who had blasted out his ear drums. He lowered his head, and decided to give in. "Look lady, I didn't mean it like that. I just have a lot I'm trying to do, and breaking the law would screw me over."

He held the shot up to his eye, looking at the distorted kaori on the other end. His sharingan spun to reveal a single tomoe behind the drink while his other eye was closed. "We keep this a secret okay? I may not be strong now, but if you ruin my chances of anything happening I'll go revenge-style on you. Got it?" He asked, before deactivating his eyes, and bringing the glass to his lips.

With a single swift motion he downed the shot, wincing at the very slight burn of alcohol. "Gaaaaah gross!" He said, putting the glass down and grabbing his water to wash it out, quickly downing all the water he had. "How the hell is anyone supposed to become an alcoholic offa this stuff?" He spat, shaking his head. When he did he got a glimpse of the clock up on the wall, and his eye twitched. It was midnight. Had time really gone by so fast? 'Uri is gonna kill me.' He thought, before standing up.

"I gotta go. It's nothing against you, but...It's late. I have a teacher who's probably gonna scold me for being up late. Ya know how it is." He left some yen on the table for the snacks, not being one to like taking someone else's money unless they were on good terms. With a tug of his Haori's sleeve he started walking out. "If ya wanna find me, I live in a teahouse. My name is Otani Ryuichi, in case I never told ya. Ja ne." He says with a wave, walking out of the booth.

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[Kanagawa Nozomi]

She grew disinterested in the boy and was waiting for him to leave. Even if he took the shot now, it did almost nothing to change whatever opinion she'd have of him; assuming she'd remember the child once she woke up the following day. He already said something that pissed her off and she simply gave him the 'shoo' bit. She wouldn't tell a soul that he drank, granted he would've been a whole lot more fun if he had done so earlier. That was, however, before he said something to trigger a response from the woman. "Don't worry, I have no reason to tell anyone," she said as she maintained the 'shooing' gesture towards the boy.

It was at this time that the boy mentioned his name and his reason for leaving. Still, she didn't care much and only responded with her codename, "Mizuho," she said. The last person she gave this name to was Maru and that was because she didn't want to give him her real name. The boy worked at a tea-house huh? It was then that it took her a second to process that the boy didn't even thank her for the snacks. Her opinion of Cloud nin just gets worse and worse the longer she stayed her. At the very least the clothing and food here were to her taste.

She had no reason to pursue the boy so she easily dumped the information given to her for something more worth-while. She took up the Karaoke book and entered the number for a song she enjoyed. After clicking the send button, she picked up her mic. 'I sing to remember the better times. I sing to escape from this reality. Without song, what am I worth?' she thought to herself before belting out the first chord.

[Topic Left]