Miah walked into the village gates still as silent as the moment she had set out on her venture back, smokey still in her arms causally purring as she was pet... the night sky was clear a reflexing stars and moonlight onto the faces of Hayato and Miah, as they walked together side by side in vigilant silence... tear stains could clearly be seen on Miah's face as she had cried most way back, but with the kindness of the man next to her it hadn't lasted for long, and so now she was ever more grateful for Hayato, and she felt that something needed to be done to show her appreciation towards him, he needed to know how truly tankful she was, but how? a simple thanks wouldn't suffice, she needed some more, something that said she was eternally grateful for him and his actions.  maybe dinner would work? yes dinner might do it! a slight smile took over miah's face as she used one hand to pull hayato's jacket more over her...

They finally reached miah's apartment a little while later. miah pulled out the key to her white door and opened it, then pushed the door open and stepped inside, but just barely before she turned around and looked at Hayato."H-hayato could you come in with me please? if you can't that's fine, but i would truly enjoy it if you came with me" she said as blush appeared on her face, it's not that she had a crush on him or anything it's just that an invitation into a girls house, especially when she lived alone, could be taken as so much more than she was going for. then she if he tried to leave she would beg and beg him until he finally went in, then she would open up the door all of the and and as he did that she would turn and wait by the door and slow take off her shoes, as smokey jumped out of her arms and ran over to her food bowl. when hayato would finally pass her she would casually walk over to the door, close it, and lock it then go over to the small round wooden kitchen table and gesture for Hayato to sit down if he wasn't already. "Hayato, i've come to the conclusion that i owe you for your actions, and i am not under any circumstances taking no for an awnser, and as such you will not be leaving thi house until i have done something for you to repay you... so then my question arises. what would you like? i was thinking of something along the lines of dinner, but it's truly up to you." Miah looked at him with her gleaming teal eyes, slightly giving him a face of desperation, as she awaited his answer.

Hayato’s eyes widened, stunned as Miah invited him into her home in the dead of night. He knew it wasn’t right to assume anything, but how was he supposed to react to her invitation? How would it look for him to enter the home of this girl that he had just met, at night, seemingly by themselves. What’s worse, what if she didn’t live alone and he would be confronted by friends or family that lived there and just be introduced as a random guy that Miah had brought home. The awkwardness of the situation made him hesitate, graciously turning down her offer at first only to find himself persuaded by the pleading of Miah. She was definitely persistent, but her behavior sure was suspicious. What motive did she have to be so set on getting him into her house? Well, seeing as how it didn’t seem like he was getting out of it now the only way to find out was to play along.

Hayato would remain standing in the middle of the room, awaiting further instruction before Miah finally motioned for him to take a seat. Still curious about what exactly he was meant to be doing here, he would simply wait for Miah to explain. She would have to sooner or later after all. He let out a soft sigh of relief when she finally explained the situation, although it was not one he agreed with. “No really, you don’t have to repay me for anything Miah,” he began with a smile, waving his hand in front of him for emphasis, “There was nothing special about what I did. I just did what anyone would do in that kind of situation. I don’t want you to feel that you are indebted to me in any way. I’m just glad I could be there to help in any way I did. I appreciate the offer, but really, it’s fine. I don’t want to impose any more than I might have already. I’ll just take my leave and be out of your way.”

---

355~

...“No really, you don’t have to repay me for anything Miah,There was nothing special about what I did. I just did what anyone would do in that kind of situation. I don’t want you to feel that you are indebted to me in any way. I’m just glad I could be there to help in any way I did. I appreciate the offer, but really, it’s fine. I don’t want to impose any more than I might have already. I’ll just take my leave and be out of your way." WHAT! no miah was not gonna let this go... she felt that she owed him for something, and she hated not acting on something when she felt that it needed to be acted upon... last time she did that someone died... some very close to her died, and she never ever take back her inaction. "NO! absolutely not... you are not leaving this house hold until i fell that i've done something for you... i already told you i will not take no for an awnser, so now... pick what you want from me, or want me to do and MAYBE, then ill let you leave.. ill repeat myself once more, your not leaving this household until were done here, and i will not under any circumstance take no for an answer." she had stood up in anger at some point during her shouting at hayato, and she sat down now and folded her arms. Smokey had looked up to what was going on, but then she went back to eating out of her bowl. then Miah stood up no longer patient, she quickly grabbed all of the stuff she neeeded to make ramen for two, and began cooking. while she stirred the broth she looked over her shoulder and said. "And this dinner doesn't count as your payment either..." then she took a few more minutes to finish the noodles and the broth then poured the noodles, then poured separate bowl for the two of them, having lived on her own miah had become quick the skilled cook, and as such the food wouldn't be terrible. "Here eat up" she said as she passed him a bowl with some chop sticks.

He was… not expecting as aggressive of a reaction as he got from Miah. Maybe he should have considering the circumstances of their initial meeting, but at this point that was the kind of thing he wanted to avoid. The same compliments might not succeed in calming her down the second time around. He waved his hands and chuckled nervously as he allowed Miah to vent, not attempting to resist her demands a second time. He sat at the kitchen counter and watched her prepare their meal. She was working so intently and so furiously that he didn’t dare to interrupt her during her work. The last thing he needed was cutlery flying his way. He had just gotten her to stop trying to kill him.

Accepting the bowl she passed him Hayato would not begin eating until she took a seat to eat alongside him. Once she did that he would look her in the eyes and smile thankfully, bowing his head to her slightly before helping himself to his food. “Wow, this is really good Miah,” he exclaimed, eyes wide between mouthfuls of ramen, “I’m impressed. Beautiful, fiery, and a good cook. Some man is going to be very lucky someday if he is going to be able to marry a woman like you. I think I’ll be jealous.” He would laugh after his comments and continue to eat his meal, occasionally making eye contact with Miah while the two of them ate and showing her a wide smile. He had been living alone for so long at this point that he had almost forgotten what it was like to have someone to sit down and have a home cooked meal with.

Once he had finished his bowl he would lay the chopsticks over it and watch Miah finish eating with a smile. “Miah… I just wanted to say thank you,” he said as, only for a moment, the smile faded from his face and was replaced by a more sorrowful expression before the smile returned, “The food was fantastic and the company was even better. I didn’t go out tonight expecting or even thinking I wanted to spend time with anyone. I thought I wanted to be alone. No, I did want to be alone. You changed my mind. I’m glad that we had a chance to meet… even if you tried to kill me the first time we met.” He let out a laugh at the idea of how drastically different things had become between the two in a matter of just a couple of hours.

---

790~

Miah's face light up with blush when Hayato made his comment. could that at all be true? was she really gonna be a good wife? blush flourished a crossed miah's face as she attempted to avoid Hayato seeing her face, but everything she would glance up to see if he was looking at her and they would make eye contact and she would turn away to avoid him seeing her blush, but it was rather noticeable. she finally gave up looking at him and put a huge bite of ramen into her mouth when she heard.  “Miah… I just wanted to say thank you,” she almost choked on her food, when she heard it, because it came as a shock to her. what could he be thanking her for? she hadn't really done anything except try to kill him and then apologize repeatedly and then use his shoulder to cry on, if anything she should be thanking him, which of course she was trying to do, but he was being a stubborn ass about it. “The food was fantastic and the company was even better. I didn’t go out tonight expecting or even thinking I wanted to spend time with anyone. I thought I wanted to be alone. No, I did want to be alone. You changed my mind. I’m glad that we had a chance to meet… even if you tried to kill me the first time we met.” now there was no way she could look at him, her face was bright red. she didn't know how to take his comment, nor how to logically react to it, and before she could stop her self she turned around and looked him dead in the eye as these words slipped out of her mouth "I... i have Enjoyed you company too Hayato, i wanted to be all by my self and grieve for my sister..." she managed to catch the words coming out of her mouth there, as she clasped her hands over her mouth, but then she shook her head, he was becoming more and more trust worthy and she owed him something, and the load she was carrying was too much to bare anymore... she couldn't go on grieving by herself, the wound just wasn't healing. she needed a healer, and hayato was going to be her healer. tears welled up in her eyes as she removed her hands from her mouth "Hayato... i've never told anyone this before, and so my payment to thank you will be to tell you my most kept secret.... when i was younger, i  had been i was the prodigy of my clan, born for greatness they would always say... but my little sister however, was not nearly as lucky. she was clumbsy and not very good at genjustu at all... well one day i had scared a rival clan soo bad with how talented i was that they sent assassins after me to elimate me... me and my sister ran from the house hold as fast as we could and hide in the forest, but these ninjas were tracker nin and they came close to finding us not long after... and what happened next i'll never forgive myself for... my sister in the panicked state she was in ran out into the field, instantly being spotted by the assassins. they struck her down in an instant. where was i? still sitting in the bushes just watching... i could helped... had i done something she might have survived, but no she is dead and it's all my fault... so thats why i was out there tonight. i tend to grieve for my sister at night time when no when else is around, but as a result my emotions are much more prone to sway at night, which is why i attempted to kill you as well..." she said now in full blown tears, making it hard to understand most of what she was saying... then she sat there and cried, not being able to finish the rest of her ramen. 


Total WC: 1562

As he listened to Miah tell him her story Hayato would not say a word, instead silently getting up from his seat, walking around the counter to her as she cried, and wrapping his arms around her to pull her into an embrace. Nothing needed to be said as he held her and let her cry into his shoulder once again. If this was really the first time she had ever spoken about this to anyone, what she needed now was not someone to try to talk her tears away. If she had been holding back these emotions all this time, then allowing her to get them all out was the best thing he could do for her now. He would wait for her crying to subside a bit and for her to calm down before trying to comfort her. As her sob reduced to more of a snivel he would guide her face with his hand so that it was facing his and take one of the ends of his silk scarf and gently wipe the tears off of her cheeks.

Letting the scarf fall down to his chest once again he would gently place his right palm onto her cheek, using his thumb to wipe away the moisture left over from her tears. “I’m not going to tell you not to cry Miah,” he said calmly and with a soft, reassuring smile, “But I hope you haven’t forgotten what I said back in the forest about how I feel when I see pretty girls cry. You said you wanted to repay me, right? What I want is for you to forgive yourself. There are wicked people in this world, some so much as to attack children. That’s what you were Miah, a child. There was nothing you could do by running in except get yourself killed along with her. Is that what you think she would have wanted? Surviving was the best thing you could have done. Become strong. Make sure that she’s never forgotten. Do everything you dreamed of doing because that’s what she would have wanted you to do. And I won’t take no for an answer.”

The last line was a bit of a tease back to her insistence of repaying him earlier when she refused to let him leave without her feeling like her debt had been paid. He said it with a slight chuckle before looking back into Mia’s eyes and continuing, “So, do we have a deal?”

---