Private When We All Fall Asleep [Miko]

[Kushinada Kano]

"Shhh, stop, settle down, stop squirming. I swear on the Raikage's name, Sato, if you don't stay still I'm going to have to burn it off." This seemed to have an effect on the squealing, thrashing young man as soft green chakra traced itself over the cut on his leg. Kano crouched on one knee, shifting against the sun to keep the light on the wound so she can better focus her meager skills. She wasn't the best medical student -- her intents being so small scale and personal didn't lend itself well to "serving the village as a dedicated medic" that many others joined the force for. She didn't really have an interest in their strict rules, the hard work, the time consumption: she just wanted the rewards, as any kid would. It had only been a few months of lessons so far and her impatience was starting to show in the shoddy work of her application, yet ...

She was the best they had, and she genuinely was trying to do right by them. Them being her little family of "dark cultists", the followers and fiends of Her Imperious Evil Majesty. In reality they were no more than a small-town, low-threat street gaggle of children, most without families or real skill, but Kano tried hard to elevate them above all of that. She gave them a place to belong -- she gave herself one, with them. This is why no one said anything as the loud-spoken Queen of Darkness tended gently at her subject's pain, humming a tune behind her lips to help further calm the boy.

He was sniffling, tears pricking at his eyes, a shake to his fingers. Sato did always have a low pain tolerance, Kano noted, which is why she had ordered him many times to stay away from their tower of tires. The base she had picked out was nice and all, big, spacious, full of junk and just out of the way that they couldn't be bothered a lot of the time ... but there was something to say that she was still a thirteen year old trying to look out for even smaller children. They often liked to get themselves in trouble and all banged up, which is why she humbled herself to pick up these techniques in the first place.

Most had the good sense to look away, not to linger too long on Kano in her current state so very against the grain of a Horrible Leader, and the few that didn't were reminded of why they stuck around. She was here for them, and they were her for her. "It should be okay now. You dolt, next time you go climbing things seven times your size I'll throw you off the Academy." She spoke harshly, but her tone was far too gentle, exasperated, fretting obviously over his injury even as he nodded back quickly and started to shuffle up. "Th-thank you, Onee-ch -- My Queen!" He pivoted when the six other students in the area abruptly turned to stare him down; forcing him to squeak, chuckle nervously and throw out a salute.

This seemed just enough to placate Kano, who stood up herself and briskly wiped the dirt off her elaborate outfit. When she looked up everyone else looked away, whistling innocently, fidgeting or playing with their collection of rundown toys and knick-knacks. She grinned widely, taking in a breath before she would throw out her arm to address the group.

It was then that she heard a shuffling noise near the entrance of their playground, turning swiftly on her heel and pausing mid-stance to face whoever was oncoming. "An intruder within our fortress!"

 

[Homuranaka Miko]

The skip to his steps probably wasn't very becoming for a future human weapon, but Miko could hardly care. After all, the day that he would finally be able to start training to become that weapon was fast approaching. It wasn't that he liked fighting. He'd avoid it unless provoked, despite the rush he felt every time he cut loose on someone who deserved it. But no, the reason he was so giddy was because it was finally time for him to start giving back to his home. He had nothing. Was nothing as far as most might be concerned. Just a kid found on the border and taken in by the grace of the ninja that happened to be passing by. And yet for these nine years, he'd been fed, clothed, and taught by this country.

A bigger debt than a child should by all rights be worrying about, but it was one he couldn't help but feel happy to pay.

"I'm just so fired up!" he'd shouted in the middle of the street, earning a few glances, chuckles, and eye rolls from the adults around him. Miko looked around and snickered a bit himself and decided that he should probably go burn off a little energy. He hadn't gotten around to his daily self training yet, so he took a turn down an alley and dashed off in the direction of Cronopolis. No place for a child surely, but the abandoned buildings and piles of junk were the perfect sort of training ground for an active mind. Every building was an enemy structure to be infiltrated. If he made a noise with his scuffling shoes, that was ten pushups. Step on an object that made noise, ten sit ups. Honestly he did more exercise than sneaking around in those parts.

There was no rhyme or reason to his wanderings. He would continue like this for a few hours, then check the sun and use it to start making his way back to the academy dormitories. As such, he'd probably missed the entrance to the playground dozens of times before through sheer lack of attention to his wanderings. Though once he did start paying attention, it was clear that something about the ramshackle gateway was different fro the rest of the junk piles framing it. He picked his way forward, trying to go into sneaking mode as he did.

Of course, the shout meant he failed. He looked down at his feet. No glass or cans. Just rubber on concrete. Quickly he threw up his hands, palms open. "Wait wait wait wait!" he shouted rapidly. Confident he had sufficient time to act, Miko dropped down for his set.

"Eight, nine, ten!" With that, he jumped back up to his feet and dusted his hands off on his pants. He looked back to the collection of others before him, mind scrambling to come up with something to say. "Intruder, fortress. . ." he mumbled. "Oh! Ahem, so what do we have here? A dark battalion in the midst of our fair Kumogakure?" He planted his fists on his hips and puffed out his chest to laugh loudly. "Fools! You will never catch I, Homuranaka Miko the Great, strongest ninja in the world, before I can report you to the Raikage. I could take you on myself, but even dissidents deserve fair trial over immediate execution."

Propping himself up, mocking, what was that third thing he was missing? Oh yeah, running! And with that, Miko turned and bolted, looking back over his shoulder every couple steps to see if he was being followed. He'd keep to a straight line for now just to make sure he didn't lose them immediately.

 

[Kushinada Kano]

E ... eh? Kano had switched immediately into her engagement mode, chest puffed and a hand on her hip, the other thrown out in a declaration -- but the moment the boy fell to the ground and started doing push-ups, she couldn't do much more but twitch her fingers in confusion. Was this his routine? Did he have a personal trainer in his ear? What kind of regime is ten push-ups at random intervals!? She was so thrown off she could only stand and stare, her head slowly tilting and her outstretched arm receding to her side.

There was uneasy laughter from the kids scattered behind her, but by the end of the boy's speech they were joined by muffled gasps and scampering of children into hiding places. It took Kano a fair few seconds before she was able to blink past her own train of thought, soon narrowing her eyes in a glare and rising her frame higher to stare him down. "A threat in our sanctum!? You dare!? You know not the terrors you trifle with, hero of Kumogakure! You will never bring down I, the Queen of Darkness, the Lady of the Night, not while shadows still flicker behind every ligh -- H, hey, wait, don't run! What the heck!!"

She almost tripped over herself starting forward, her feet clumsily finding her footing from the sharp transition she was forced into. Still, the average skill of a Genin is still more than the average skill of some boy ... ! She wasn't going to be shown up by a new player entering on the board! She was off, after him, just below a blur of movement that kept her from falling on her face but let her keep pace with him. Every time he'd look back she was there, boring into his eyes with fire in hers. "I won't let you! Ninja Art: Sit The Heck Down!"

There was a string of handseals that she had to roughly recall from her Academy days - she hadn't used Genjutsu in awhile, not for more than parlor trick displays of dominance - but she felt like she succeeded as she mimed reaching out to grab the back of his shirt. Without a solid amount of Genjutsu resistance, he'd find his body a little more tired, a little less responsive. There was the argument to physically restrain him with Ninjutsu, but she didn't want to accidentally ... hurt him. It'd be a bad look, the Dark Leader beating up a little kid, especially with a clump of his classmates behind them in the playground. B-but she could, of course! If she needed to!!

She lunged at him, less miming and more actually trying to grab at his clothing. It was kind of exhilarating, still, this chase sequence -- she didn't often get the chance to exert herself as much as she might like, not when her duties shifted to small missions she could take alone and tending to her family here. The Academy made her work a lot more, and she almost felt like she was back a year, still gallivanting across the training grounds. "Let me catch you! I demand it! When I get my hands on you, ooh, I'm going to feed you to my devil hounds!!"

 

[Homuranaka Miko]

He squeaked a few times when he looked back and saw the leader of the 'dark cult' he'd infiltrated was always right behind him. No matter how he twisted or turned down that street, she was always right there. It was exhilarating for Miko, but also more than a little spooky. For one thing, it looked like he'd managed to come upon an actual ninja. She didn't seem too much older than him, but her training had definitely already started. If he was going to get away from her, he was going to have to be especially clever about it.

Or, well, he could try. After the girl shouted at him though, something about a ninja art that sounded super fake, he had a harder time keeping his focus. His mind kept wandering. His body felt like it was growing heavier and heavier. What was wrong with him? He'd never skipped a day in keeping up with the village's physical fitness standards. Hell, he'd done more than a couple sets of pushups on the way here! Maybe that was it? He might have to lay off the pushups just a little. Five instead of te-

Wait, no, what was he thinking? That wasn't important! What was important was getting away. Right? Maybe? He didn't like the sound of being fed to hounds. He turned and looked back over his shoulder. Yep, still there. A little closer now too. "H-hah. You think the great Homuranaka Niko would be so easily captured?" He turned back around and his eyes slid about before fixating on something just ahead. A building that he knew had a lower level. He . . . he could what? Maybe her ninja art wasn't so fake after all?

Regardless of whether he could actually think the plan through in full, he could still apparently act on it. He peeled off to the side around a clump of rubble, diving through a hole in the wall of a building. Tuck, roll, back up much less steady than before, but still moving. "You're a thousand years too early to catch m- Too high too high too high!"

This was definitely not the building he'd been in before. The one he thought he was jumping into had a crawlspace just tall enough for him under the floor. This one was was a proper lower floor. Which meant more than a four foot drop.

Miko tucked and rolled, then kept rolling, and only came to a stop when his back hit a wide pillar jutting up from the floor. He remained where he fell, rolling slightly and hissing loudly from the scrapes and cuts he'd just picked up. Back didn't feel too good either after smacking against stone. He'd have to remind himself not to play in ruins if he felt sleepy.

 

[Kushinada Kano]

"A-ha! You've given me your true name, you fool! You have no hope against me now!" She swung down from the side of a building to land with a heavy step on the ground, immediately correcting her trajectory to launch herself at the boy once again. He had spunk, she'd give him that. He was fun, actually. The kind of friend she liked to play with -- the kind of silliness she liked to indulge in. Still, she couldn't risk him actually bothering anyone about her group! What if they find her hideout and shut them down!?

She'd have nothing left. "That "thousand years too early" line is mine, heretic! Find your own cinematic catchph-- hey!!"

She almost tripped over the edge with him when she caught up, teetering at the gap and waving her arms until she steadied enough to settle with heavy gasps and peer down. "C-crap." A hand tugged at her hair, the other balanced on her knee as she caught her breath, worry creasing her previously fierce expression. "H-hey?," she called out, sticking her head lower into the crawlspace and trying to find him in the dark. "Are you okay -- crap," she repeated again to herself, biting her lip and looking around before ducking herself a bit more deftly onto the lower floor.

She landed with a light tap, this time, the recent fervor completely bled from both her eyes and the way she held herself. She found his shape and walked over with some trepidation, far more concerned for his safety than she was for her own. She would kneel next to his hissing form and reach out a gentle hand to lightly run through his hair, trying to grab his attention without startling or hurting him further. She had some practice with rowdy boys getting themselves into trouble, obviously, and this natural response was one hard for her to stifle. "Hey. Let me see it, Miko."

 

[Homuranaka Miko]

One of the benefits of it being dark was that no one had to see if you were crying. Well, it wasn't wholly dark, but he still figured it'd be harder to tell. His ears were ringing a bit, so he couldn't quite hear the calls from the girl up above him. He just laid there, slowly gathering his strength since he knew he'd have to find the stairs or climb out of here sooner or later. Find somewhere clean where he would be able to pick the dirt and rubble out of his cuts and then lick them clean. He'd be able to come up with a story for the ninjas assigned to watch over the kids housed in the academy. He'd been out playing and training, and had an accident. Wasn't even a lie because that was literally what just happened to him. Should work. Then he could just-

The touch to his hair had him jolt. Immediately the boy sat bolt upright and scrambled backwards. Of course, with his back already pressed to the pillar, this left him with nowhere to go. Instead all he managed to do was accidentally smack the back of his head on the concrete, eliciting another hiss. What was he, a cat? Maybe. His instinct was just to isolate himself a little from the woman as he tried to figure out if she was still trying to play, or if they were being more serious now. It had been a rather gentle touch she got his attention with. He scanned her face and posture, thoughts slowly slowing and then silencing as he focused on her.

He could hear his own breathing, which meant that sense was working again. As such he heard perfectly well when she asked to see what had happened. He looked down at himself and saw his arms wrapped up around his knees. Miko swallowed, and looked back up into the girl's face. They were serious now, he was sure. The tension slipped out of him, and the boy pushed back his sleeves and rolled up his pants to the knee. He couldn't stop the brief bursts of air from slipping between his teeth, but the grandstanding was done, and a few meager tears slipped from his eyes. No major cuts. Certainly a collection of hairline splits in the skin and patches scraped white with a few red beads peaking out from his scrapes.

"S-sorry about this. Thought this was a building I explored the other day. The first floor has a crawlspace below it just tall enough for me to run, but maybe too tall for you to chase quickly. I was gonna vanish without a trace then show back up further down the street to chase some more. Instead I fell. Still need to work on that before I can be a cloud ninja." he remarked, a touch sullen that he'd brought their little fun to an end so quickly.

 

[Kushinada Kano]

Kano had ... transitioned fully, you could say. The game was put on hold ; as much as she liked to play, as important as her image was to her, her natural instincts easily won over when a charge of hers was hurt. It didn't help that she considered all children of Kumogakure such -- kids in pain, lonely or bruised or both, were her weakness. She had to help them. She had to make this ... better. This is why she froze for a moment as Miko scrambled away from her and hit himself again, trying not to balk against the hiss of his breath. She was so careful not to hurt kids. It really struck at her heart when she saw it happen.

"Hey, hey ... shh, it's okay. It's okay, Miko. You're safe. I can help." She coo'd to him, for once her tone soft and gentle instead of boisterous and boastful. She talked quietly, approached cautiously, as if he was a wounded animal. He might as well have been, how crumpled and nervous he was. In the dark it was just them and their noises, his breath and her words. When he relented enough to open up and speak to her she took that as her chance to lightly take his leg and the side of his arm between her fingers, deftly if not shakily avoiding his scrapes. The last thing she wanted was to rub salt into this -- it was good practice for her, controlling her breathing, her movements and being the adult. "Hey, no apologies. We all mess up sometimes. Here, let me see it. I'll ..."

She examined him as she trailed off, eyes adjusting to the dark until she could more clearly make out the scope of his injuries. Not too bad, but she could understand his reaction. This never felt good, especially not in the presence of a stranger. No one wanted to be seen like this. She lifted her eyes to meet his and offered a calm smile. "It was a smart plan. You might have even gotten away from me, Miko Homuranaka. Could you imagine? Me, the Queen of all Evil," and she laughed, a serene pealing sound, the easy and playful ringing of bells, "bested by a dorky little boy." She nudged him at the side of his calve, once more carefully avoiding his scrapes. "Let's see what I can do about this, yeah?"

Her head dropped, hair slipping from behind her ear to hide and frame uneven parts of her instantly serious expression while she focused. A light hum built behind her lips and then her fingers, twitching each digit as chakra crept along them. Her brow was furrowed, intense, as if she wasn't just trying to wipe away some surface wounds but perform an important surgical procedure. She started with his knee and then would move up to his arm, both hands cupped together and slowly spilling out green energy that would mist soothingly over the source of the damage. She was muttering under her breath, a circling mantra of 'you can do this, you can fix this', seeming to keep her hands steady. It was a slow, arduous effort, as was the depth of her skills to this point -- but she was making it. The droplets of blood were fading away, the grazes smoothing over.

The pain would go next, shortly after the appearance was clean. As she relaxed more into the motion and control of her chakra she shifted from her mantra to humming, an attempt to keep Miko calm while she worked and his mind off the stinging.

"Any better?"

 

[Homuranaka Miko]

Miko watched with slightly wary eyes, but otherwise there was nothing more he could do about the situation. His wounds stung, and unless he got them bandaged tight and clean by more experienced hands, he was probably going to get into a bit of trouble when he got back to the dorms this evening. Kano's soft tone helped though. It almost kept his mind over just how much it stung. Almost. Unfortunately the stinging was only getting worse, and it was also starting to itch. He knew scratching would just open the wounds further and dig the dirt and dust in but that didn't make it any easier to resist scratching.

He looked up again from where she examined his scrapes to meet her gaze. The boy grinned a bit in return and chuckled. "Well, I only intended to run you around a little. Looked like you all were having fun, so I wanted to join you." The comment about him being dorky got him to snort and he did actually forget about the sting of his wounds. "Yes, I am but a humble dork before your majesty, Queen of all Evil." he said, doing his very best to keep all laughter out of his voice. And to his credit, he did the job well enough. For just a moment he slipped back into the mindset of play and delivered most of the line in that absolute serious tone that only children can muster for the most ridiculous matters. Minus a few syllables where the facade cracked just a bit.

A chill wind blew through the underground building, likely air flowing from somewhere else out the hole above them. Miko shivered just a touch and looked down to his arms and legs again. He hadn't really been paying attention to what she was up to, but seeing his scrapes and cuts cleaned, his eyes widened. "You're a mednin! You can heal someone with just chakra. . ." he said with a reverent tone. He took time to inspect his arms and legs, then rolled his sleeves and pants back down. He then went to stand, only to get about an inch off the ground before stopping and planting himself right back on the stone floor. "Yeah, that's gonna bruise. I think I can hide that from the proctors though. I just need to sit here a while to acclimate to the feeling. Certainly won't be reporting anything to the raikage. Not that I was going to anyways." he said, putting on a brave face once more.

He wasn't necessarily lying. If he kept his shirt on and bathed alone, he could keep it a secret. Worked before with other injuries. It was just sprains and bleeding he had trouble covering up. One day someone would confirm his suspicions that one of the ninjas assigned to watch the academy was part dog or something.

"So, if one wished to learn more about the Evil Queen, how might they address her? Outside of her rightful title?"

 

[Kushinada Kano]

"I understand," she'd murmur, as if in thought. She was rightly focused on the task at hand, the careful turn of her fingers and the misting of her chakra as it drifted over his injuries until the surfaces were, at least, cleaned. "It is fun, most of the time." Her digits dip in to lightly dance around the edges of a closing scrape, shaping her chakra in a self-practice she was leaning on -- if she couldn't perfectly control the flow, she could at least bully it into something manageable. That was something she was good at ... much more then the self control this set of techniques normally called upon. "I'm glad you've so quickly learned your place, Homuranaka Miko!"

Her grin was cheeky again, though the lines of wear clearly darkened the space around her eyes. She would slow to a crawl of movement, the green fog of her chakra fading in increments that seemed to quicken until it was nothing but wisps pooled around her fingers. Those, too, drifted from her palms to cusp her knuckles and evaporate into the space of nothingness. She was spent, and it took all she had left to swallow that down and force her smile onward. It helped to lift her spirits until it wasn't so forced, to see him joking and smiling and recovering from the state he was in minutes ago. This is why she did this. This is why she needed to.

"A m-mednin!? Heresy!" She threw up her hands defensively, covering her chest with her arms and her face with a set of twitching fingers. "I am the Night itself! The Horror beneath the beds of snot-nosed twerps like you! I - I just know the dark magics to call u ... upon to patch you together, that's all! I'm now in your system, poisoning you towards evil, my abo -- abop ... abonem ... abomnitio abomination!" She froze like that for a few more minutes, caught like a deer in the headlights ; her terrible secret revealed. It was seconds longer before she relaxed enough to sigh, mumbling frustratedly under her breath. "If you tell anybody I'll eat your hands."

She waved hers, settling back to sit up with her arms around her knees and her eyes leveled on him. This was as good a place as any to be alone together, even for just a little while. He was the curious sort -- not many would have risked taunting her, especially not on her 'turf', but maybe that applied only to people that actually ... knew her. She hadn't met him before. That put her on new ground, with a new first impression to give. She hoped he could still be intimidated by her, despite the embarrassing show she had just put on by ... h, helping him. "Take your time, dork. I'm ... sorry the, uhm, dark curses I used to avail you of your pain couldn't fix all of it. It'll be really annoying if you open anything back up, though."

She shifted her head to the side curiously, white hair framing a violet gaze that bore into the boy. "The title will, of course, suffice - but if you really must know, just this once I can allow you a glimpse into the Heart of Darkness itself." She reached out a weary hand, recovering similarly to his own vertigo, resting on the uneven ground. "Kano. Kano Kushinada. A lesser demon like you wouldn't be able to do much harm with my true name ; but I warn you, my devilflame fiends could tear you to pieces if you're ever insubordinate."

"... It's nice to meet you, Miko."

 

[Homuranaka Miko]

It was amusing to see her get so flustered over something so obvious. It seemed like she was flitting back and forwards between playing and being serious, but so was he, so there were no stones to throw there. Overall, he liked the evil queen. Kushinada Kano. She was already in proper training at the academy, but she also still knew how to have fun with kids like him. If he really did have to join the little cult she was cultivating, no pun intended, he couldn't think of a better leader to be under. Now if only her 'dark curses' had been able to work on his back. The sooner they were out of this dark and cold place, the better. The village was already chilly most of the year by virtue of where it was located. He'd rather not spend too much time away from the sun and catch a cold. Then the overseers back at the academy would definitely know he had been up to something he wasn't supposed to.

"It is . . . . ." he seemed to visibly struggle with words, several times having them catch in his throat. He would try to force them, only for nothing to happen before he sighed as though in defeat. "It is a pleasure to meet you, oh great and evil queen." he said finally, though he pretended to be supremely unhappy to say as much. It was an act a little marred by the grin he was somewhat failing to hide. Still, he could say it was a grimmace if she called attention to it. Just another affect of her dark magic working on him. "Seems your abilities are already at work. Seeping in through the openings created by my injuries and changing me at my very core." he declared with a note of horror in his tone.

He made a bid for trying to get up again. This time he was careful not to put too much force into his back, even though he kind of needed it to complete the procedure and remain upright. Of course, it still hurt. It was definitely going to bruise something fierce. At least he could stand though. Miko took some time to dust himself off as best he could without having to twist or bend too much, then looked back towards the hole. "You could probably get back up there from down here. I'm not confident I currently have the ability to reach such staggering heights though." He looked around a little, then back to Kano. "I don't suppose you have some sort of light so that I can find the stairs without having to stumble around in the darkness? I know it must be a terrible thing to suggest, peeling back your glorious darkness, my queen, but as I am so newly turned, all previous skill I possessed has surely been stolen for your own means until such a time as you see fit to return them."

 

[Kushinada Kano]

She played her fingers over each other, the hum she had been singing to him slowly drifting out from the back of her throat until it was done. They were left to watch each other, a softness to her eyes she struggled to retake as something more severe whenever they met. A sigh. "A, at least you, understand." She mumbled out, obviously embarrassed with a brush of her hair hiding her expression beneath displaced strands of white. "Don't forget what I've given you today."

She reacted to his attempt to stand with an unsteady shift & lift forward, her arm reaching out reflexively to catch him should he fall while she balanced on a single wobbly foot and her other skidded across the cement. She froze in that position - more or less, her wavering notwithstanding - while he succeeded in getting up, watching him rid himself of the dirt he had collected in his tumble with worry. She let out a breath akin to the sigh she gave earlier, more relief than frustration within it.

She had seen his smile, knew his commitment to playing along with her despite the erratics to her own show. She felt as if she was phasing in and out of place, trying to ground herself in one ideal or another - torn between how she wanted to present and how worried these dumb, dumb kids made her. She shook her head, swallowed a sound, and stood straightly in a right to stand taller before him. It wasn't that complicated, really. She was who she was. He just caught her on a ... good day. Besides, she could always...

"Give me your hand, Miko Homuranaka. I'll make you a deal." She held her arm out, fingers once more outstretched and a grin slowly forming her expression into something much more devilish. "I'll help you out of here, I'll keep you safe from the other horrors lurking in these shadows, and you'll belong to me." A tilt to the side of her head, freeing her hair to instead frame the lights in her eyes instead of hiding them away. "If you take my hand, you accept. This contract between demons, bidding your soul to the Queen of Darkness. You'll join me and my other fiends, and you will feast on the revelry we partake."

I'll take care of you, you dummy. "I'll return to you the meager powers I have taken during this interaction, and I will allow your flesh to remain firmly, uhm, attached to your still-mortal frame. You just have to come with me." She leans forward with a conspiratorial smile, one eyebrow quirked. "Wherever I go."

 

[Homuranaka Miko]

She seemed a little slow to get back into the swing of things, though he couldn't tell why. Regardless, Miko stood to the side while he waited to see what she was going to do. Of course, he had no doubt in his mind that she would help him get out of this mess. He just wasn't sure whether she was going to do something insane-ly cool like pull him up through the hole as she jumped up there, or just find him an exit. While he could hope for the former, he also tempered his hope with the ever present reminder that his back was all kinds of messed up.

It confused him, just a little. How much she seemed to struggle with the idea of showing that she had any sort of capacity for affection or caring about someone else. Even the evil had someone they cared for. Maybe. It always seemed like the villains were doing what they did because of some tragic backstory in books. That or they were just lonely and needed a friend. He preferred the former if he was going to be entirely honest. And he really hoped that Kano was the former. She couldn't be the latter. She had plenty of friends.

When she finally seemed to get back into her groove, he did his best not to smile. The game had begun again, and he must play along to the best of his ability. The grin became something of a grimace, and he held out his hand with some hesitation to it. He was a captured soldier that was slowly being corrupted to her side. Though he wanted to resist, there was nothing he could do about the evil magic now flowing through him from the treatment he'd received as a result of her clever tricks and trappings.

He gave her hand a little squeeze when he finally grasped it. Something to show the final bit of resistance in him slowly fading away. He allowed his smile to become more genuine, and looked up towards her, looking Kano right in the eyes as she delivered her speech. He bowed a little and swept a hand out. When he spoke, his voice was no longer loud and haughty. There was still energy in it, as he would never be rid of that, but it was something more even now. A minion who could be trusted to get things done is how he would shape himself for this game.

"Of course, my lady. It would be my greatest joy to join you."

 

[Kushinada Kano]

A soft breath, watching him with intently scrutinizing eyes. Stay tough, she told herself, angling her cheeks and furrowing her brow with her fingers splaying against her hip. Look intimidating. She didn't want to risk a bad rap with the other kids - blissfully unaware of the way they saw her already - and found maintaining her image for the game more important then fretting over him further. Once he would take her hand she would seal his fate ; one of hers, one of theirs until he --

-- doesn't want to be, anymore. Everyone grows out of the game eventually, after all. Everyone but her.

Her face splits into a grin at the brush of his fingers within her palm, not quite a ploy, not quite a lie ; just a light, building in her eyes and centered on him with an ascension to her full frame. Uplifted, even. Energy standing her hairs on end, a shiver along her grasp. Maybe a show, but not a trick. A spark of chakra, a light blue ring evaporating off the closed embraced of their fingers when hers curl in. The world around them seems to rustle as she releases a lick of pressure, a swipe of "magic" so fast as to send loose stones to the ground and grass to sway. Theatrics. Enjoyment. An eager gleam and hint and edge to everything she does.

A victory. "Our deal is sealed, Miko Homuranaka. From now until eternity, you belong to my dark forces. You are your Queen's." Her smile only grows, and it doesn't seem threatening. Not sharp, just welcoming. Happy, broad, toothy. The show he, too, put on only succeeded in urging her on, filling her with a peculiar warmth of satisfaction. Someone interesting. Someone exciting. She could have fun with him - he wanted to play. "You're welcome." Her tone was almost a purr, a gravelly contention that only a kid could put behind so much haughty energy.

"Now, with that matter taken care of, I will offer you your first boon." A wink, shifting until her hair spilled in the other direction and she could twist her back to let go of his hand and look above at the opening they fell through. She could do this, she thought. She had used quite a bit of chakra in patching up his minor injuries but there was a lot riding on this performance. That would be enough to get her through. Dig deep, Kano Kushinada. "Try not to be bowed too deeply in awe of me."

Her hand gently snaked around the back of his waist, hooking on the other side of his hip and deftly doing her best to avoid bumping him or his spine. A low whistle breathed through her lips when her other hand met the first, holding onto him with the bend of her arms and twining her fingers at the opposite end. These met various shapes, sigils ; seals. She played them out from memory, firmly concentrated and latched upon him with a bend to her knees to meet his diminutive height. She took another breath, looking at her fixation of him and then upward once more.

In a single sweeping movement she adjusted the way she held him, releasing her chakra into the jutsu she had concocted at the same time. A feat, 'specially for her, but she yet somehow kept the motion going. "Earth Style: Gravel Shift: Human Bullet!" A bit of pomp and flare, but the idea got through. The ground beneath the two had already begun to churn - instead of sideways per the normal use of throwing people off balance, she instead directed the energy upwards. Her shift came when they were just about to "lift off". She ducked low and brought her arms in to twist the one at his front under the cup of his bum while the one formally at the back of his waist shifted up to along his shoulders. With a surge she pulled him in - off his feet while trying clumsily to keep his back even, and then both were launched in a sharp flux of the earth.

By a miracle of God herself - thank you, thank you - she made it through and onto the floor of the upper building, her ankle biting down while they landed but a pain she bore with pride at keeping him intact. She didn't give him much chance to protest, and her arms were tiring, so with a stumble of forward momentum she steadied them on even ground once again. She return him to his feet and removed her hands from his body, her cheeks rosied from exertion and every breath from her nose a quick exhalation. "B, better yet," she managed out, "praise me all you want."