The girl’s demands and domineering attitude were beginning to grate on Ryūsei’s nerves like sandpaper, wearing them down with each childish, annoying word that crossed her lips. It had been the man’s intention simply to ignore her and hope she would either shut up or cease to be his problem all on her own, but at the rate this was going there seemed to be no end in sight. For whatever reason this girl was unable to take a hint. Why did it seem like every person of noble birth he came across, despite access to all of the education in the world seemed so abhorrently incompetent or dense? What a bother.

For all of her high and mighty behavior, it was more than clear to Ryūsei that the girl he had taken along with him to accomplish his task was nothing more than a petulant child. Even now, after another one of her verbal tirades, this child recoiled at the site of his body like a school girl, which only served to irritate him further. It was offensive enough that she presumed to look down upon him and bark orders when he thought she was just another disgusting noble. Her also being an immature brat only amplified his disdain for her.

“Stop acting like you’ve never seen a man’s body before.”

Annoyed, Ryūsei laid the clothes he was attempting to wring dry down on some protruding rocks by the water and stomped his way up the hill to Alexis’ location. With open defiance the man made his way towards the highborn girl, stopping only just before her location, close enough that only inches would separate her face from his bare chest if she turned to see him towering over her. It was finally time for her to get a dose of reality for the situation she found herself in, with the fair-haired man caring little for sparing her feelings or upsetting her.

“Listen you little brat, I’m choosing to ignore your bullshit orders because I don’t fucking work for you. I don’t care who you think you are back where you’re from, but out here you’re nobody. And wherever it is that you have some kind of perceived status, you’re still fucking nobody to me. I kept up my side of the agreement. I got you out of there safely. That was the deal, and now our deal is done. If you don’t like how I do things you’re free to leave at any time. Walk far enough and maybe you’ll find someone who cares about who you think you are. If I hadn’t come along you’d be sitting in one of Takayama’s holding cell waiting to ship or being passed around by his guards for fun, so spare me the idea that I somehow owe you anything. And no, my family didn’t teach me anything ‘princess’. If I’d ever met them maybe I’d ask. But it’s clear your family never taught you anything except how to be a spoiled, self-important brat. Since you’re so far above commoners like me, how about you get lost and fend for yourself?”

---

547

Alexis was bright red hiding it with her sleeves. "I haven't, well, I have never seen someone standing in their briefs, only rude simpletons do that." She could tell the man was still close by still covering her eye's not wishing to look at him, as she would not take his words of hate. "You're nobody to me and the world, so stop acting like your better, and I wouldn't hire a rude man like yourself who kidnaps a young girl, and if I was placed into a holding cell, and knowing that simpleton for a noble he wouldn't be able to do anything to me, my hands are now free and I can give you orders anytime I like, you tied me up, put me in a closet, and made me jump into the water, I think I have every right to call you on your stupid ideas."

She would turn around about to get really into her yelling, as she did her face met with his muscular chest, as she would blink thinking what is this, looking up to him then seeing he still was in his briefs. "............." Her face was now all red, as she when backward in a panic, panic holding her sleeves to her face again. "I said to put something on! Okay, that's it, put something on or else." As she was really shy, placing both hands together.

"Dog, monkey....no, that's not it...." She is known to be graceful and quick with hand signs, but right now she was not showing that side of herself. "Why can't I use my jutsu....." Her mind was clouded and couldn't wake up from how embarrassing this was, as the man was still standing in his briefs. Then she would try to make  the wind come out of  her mouth, but nothing....."I can't focus my chakra......." It was like seeing a child faking ninjutsu.

"Okay, that jutsu will not work, so I will use this one. Earth Style, Earth Flow River." But something was wrong, she was using the dog hand sign...."Wait, that's not the right one." She was not using any chakra in her jutsu. She would pout, Alexis is looking worried. "Earth Style, Earth Flow River......Why can't I use my jutsu!" This time it was the snake.

WC 396

TWC 5817

Ryuusei’s words were clearly not getting through to this girl. It was absolutely astonishing how someone could be both so obstinate and so completely devoid of self-awareness simultaneously. For as much as this girl liked to complain and wanted to be out of this situation, she just wouldn’t leave, not even as he berated her for her childish behavior. Perhaps he had not been direct enough in his recommendation to her, even though the man was under the impression that he had made himself quite clear. Not responding with any emotion to her outburst, the fair-haired man interrupted her to repeat his point.

“Your hands are free now, so instead of standing around complaining why don’t you go and find your own way home? Neither of us want anything to do with one another and I have business to take care of. Leave.”

The girl’s attitude would change rapidly after opening her eyes and staring down Ryuusei in his still undressed state. The obstinate rage that she had previously demonstrated dissipated almost instantl, leaving only the appearance and demeanor of a clumsy, bumbling adolescent. Step by step the man watched the girl struggle to make any kind of coherent point. Even her hands became fidgety, her fingers clumsily twisting about one another as if it were some kind of nervous tick. It was not until he began to listen more closely to her convoluted self-inquiry that his ears would perk up to the realization that this girl was perhaps more than some spoiled, self-important, snot-nosed brat. Chakra? Earth Style? Jutsu? Hand signs? It seemed as if the princess here believed herself a shinobi. Whether or not she her attempts were based in reality or her imagination, however, he had yet to determine given the resounding failure she was currently experiencing.

“Hm? Jutsu? What are you some kind of shinobi?”

---

318

Alexis was proud and didn't wish to say it, but she would in a noble type of way. "I don't know my way home from here, I get taken everywhere by the servants, I have never been out of the village without someone with me....." Alexis would have a slight blush when she said this not liking what could be his next words. "So it's your duty to get me home, so I am not leaving you until you get me back there!" She would say crossing her arms together, having her eye's closed wishing not to look at how undressed he was. Alexis would look more annoyed at him.

"I am known to be a Prodigy from my clan, mastering the way of my chakra without even trying, if anything I am a genius in most eye's, makes you look at me in a new light now doesn't it." She would say, thinking that would shut him up. "Just so you know a female shinobi is called a kunoichi, so maybe that will teach you who is of higher standing."

Alexis would keep trying to perform her earth style jutsu, at this time something would happen. "Earth Style: Earth Flow River." Then she smiled, but that soon turned to Alexis being bright red, with a blush. As it was a small dirty pond, not big at all. "......." She couldn't even say a word, why did her jutsu have no focus at all? Well, the reason was simple, but Alexis didn't know it. This man made her act unlike she has done before.

"......I still have Taijutsu, which is known to be my specialty, so if I was you I wouldn't try anything, and get me home." Alexis would be looking up to the sky, she did not have a good poker face. She was going to try and get home from this man, not knowing the way on her own.

WC 322

TWC 6139

“Try something? Don’t flatter yourself, kid. I’m not interested in skinny little brats.”

As he spoke Ryuusei made no effort to continue meeting Alexis’ gaze, instead simply turning about and making his way back down the hill towards his clothing left to dry, nonchalantly disregarding her with a wave of his hand. Upon reaching the bottom of the hill the man would begin inspecting his clothes, still damp from being submerged when he dived into the water, but now no longer soaked after being rung out. As much as he would have preferred dry clothes, that wasn’t a luxury he had at the moment. He was still fairly close to Takayama’s estate and sitting in one place for too long could prove to accomplish nothing more than making himself vulnerable if they sent out a search party. However unpleasant, his clothing would have to dry on the move, as he wore them. As the fair-haired man began to dress himself once more, he would continue his criticism of the girl at the hill top and continue to try and drive the point home that they weren’t partners and that she was free to leave him the hell alone.

“Like I said before, I kept up my end of the deal. I got you out of there in one piece. You’re free now. I owe you nothing more. I bow to no lord or lady, so spare me the duty crap. You don’t know me and I don’t know you. I have my own home to get back to and making a detour to babysit you isn’t going to get me back there any faster. But here’s a tip that might help you get back home alive; outside of that little bubble you’re used to living in, people don’t give a shit about who you are or what family you come from. And they don’t like being spoken down to by some pretentious little brat. But since you’re such a prodigy I’m sure you’ll have no problems.”

---

353

Alexis was becoming more annoyed. "I am not a brat! Can't you say anything that is nice to someone, you thief." She would say, thinking that could be the only reason to attack a noble family to take his riches, not knowing he killed him. Alexis never thought of him as a partner, but nobody else was here to help her. "How is this keeping your deal, I am still in danger, but someone like you who has no lessons in manners or how to act formal to anyone, is never going to learn, and stop acting like I am a child!" She would say starting to just lose it with him, couldn't he say one nice thing? Her clothes have dried a little making it easier for her to move around.

"I will keep following you around until you get me home, and just so you know I don't like being talked down towards someone that's a lonely thief." She would say showing she was not going to listen to him as well. "You keep acting like you hate princess's, princes and nobles, but the thing is your only jealous of them because they have things you don't."

"So I'm not leaving you alone or until you get me home, and it's nothing you can say or do, that can stop me from following you around." She would say not backing down from him one bit. She would follow him up and down the rocks, to make sure he didn't get away from her line of sight, with her eye's only half open blocking it with her sleeves. She could see him, but she didn't wish to look at him unclothed. "Also put some clothes on, I know you hate nobles, but at least wear clothes your family or even friends must have taught you that much about formality." Her face was still blushing, for this reason, she didn't wish to see him close to being naked.

WC 328

TWC 6467

“You’re a brat.”

Ryūsei pulled the sides of his shirt down over his abdomen, the last piece of clothing he had left to drape over himself to be fully dressed once more, as he drove his point home to the girl once more. She was little more than a spoiled child and she had done nothing to disprove that fact. Her mind was so indoctrinated with those self-serving beliefs that she either couldn’t see that the world didn’t work as her parents and servants had told her for her entire life or she willfully chose not to believe the reality that was staring her in the face. Neither scenario was one that would be particularly redeeming to her character in the eyes of the man whom she insisted was going to help her.

“The deal was getting you out of that situation with Takayama and his men. I did that. Your safety is no longer any of my concern. My advice to you is that if you’re serious about getting home you get on the nearest road and start walking. I don’t know where you’re from, but wherever it is I’m not going there. Following me isn’t going to help you.”

Fully dressed Ryūsei undid the zipper on his jacket pocket, reaching his hand inside to slip out the folded letter that he had retrieved from Takayama’s desk. The fair-haired man gently peeled the drenched corners of the parchment, careful not to rip or damage the letter or its contents. It took but a moment for him to register the contents of the missive into his mind, a single phrase used as a pass code in the world of the seedy underground in which the dead nobleman did his business. Treating the contents of the letter as sensitive intelligence, the man then hurriedly folded the drenched sheet back up and tucked it away once more before beginning to walk towards the top of the hill. Without a word said the man would spot a road a short distance away and begin walking parallel to it, deeming it too dangerous to be out on the common roads so close to the site of his work.

---

377

Alexis wouldn't remove the sleeves away from her eye's until hearing the sound of clothes being placed onto the rude kidnapper when he was finally dressed Alexis moved her hands crossing them together once again. "I don't care, I will follow you until you get me back towards my home." Alexis would narrow her eye's. "If you're forgetting I have information on you, attacking a noble, destroying his home and on top of that kidnapping me. And all I have to do is show the people of the earth country what you look like. Using this Jutsu." Alexis didn't know he killed the noble, but that would just make him more wanted.

If Alexis told them about what happened, they would put two together. Knowing he killed him. She started to perform hand signs, and in that second she transforms to look like him using the Transformation Jutsu. "Well? Are you ready to listen to this spoiled brat?" She would say as the smoke come out once more, with Alexis back to herself having a cute smile once the Jutsu was over.

Alexis would say all this following him, she had more information on him and she thought. Only thinking he broken into a noble's home, but it was murder with the village and earth country wishing to lock him up, she would follow. Alexis knew he had to worry and he now knew he couldn't let Alexis go with all this information, being one of the few eyewitnesses that saw him.

WC 252

TWC 6719

If Ryūsei thought it was only talk that would be coming from the small girl behind him he would have likely kept walking, but the mention of a jutsu grabbed his attention. The man would stop in his tracks, turning his head over his shoulder to see what she was up to. After the small puff of smoke cleared, revealing the end product of the jutsu, Ryūsei would see an image of himself, standing there smugly. All the man could do was roll his eyes at the juvenile nature of the threat. This girl truly was as dense as she looked.

“A Transformation Jutus, huh? Nope, still not interested.”

Ryūsei had little reason to simply comply with whatever the girl wanted, even after witnessing her “threat”, if that’s what she wanted to call it. The idea that someone in his line of work would wither at the idea of being accused of a crime. Moreover, he wasn’t even from the Earth Country. Whatever authorities she thinks is going to punish him for what he’d done has no jurisdiction where the man was from. He wasn’t even a registered operative with the shinobi village in the water country, meaning that even if they for some reason went there he would still officially not exist. Once he was out of the Earth country he might as well have been a ghost for how completely he could disappear. So, he just kept on walking.

---

248

She was starting to get mad, and wouldn't leave him alone, nothing was working, but why? She would have to make him by putting him into a corner unable to move like he has done to her. But Alexis would need to wait for him to fall asleep, because without being able to focus her chakra, and being that good at using Taijutsu. She would have to follow him towards where ever he was going then that would be her chance to attack, whenever that could be. All he has done is run away from a battle, showing to Alexis he didn't have that much strength in the combat area.

Following him wouldn't be easy, but knowing she didn't know the way back made Alexis blush, this man knew how to get here on his own, and could travel from place to place, if she could somehow hold him, hostage, she would be okay, and able to get back towards her home. A commoner should try to help a noble, he was just being a pain in Alexis's mind.

Where was he going? Why had he even attacked the noble, because Alexis couldn't see any money or something that was worth anything on him, that he could sell?

Exit

WC 208

TWC 6927

It seemed that no matter how harsh or adamant Ryūsei was about the girl leaving him alone and finding her own way back, she was going to follow him regardless. Kids could be such a pain. For someone who took such pride in being highborn, it seems like all of her fancy education had gone to waste if she couldn’t even catch the hints he was trying to drop her. All the man could do was shrug, disinterested of getting into yet another shouting match about her disgraceful behavior. For now, he would have to deal with her following him like a lost puppy. But hey, if he was lucky maybe a mountain lion would swoop by and grab her for dinner on the way. It would certainly save him the trouble of shaking her.

“Oh well. If I ignore her I’m sure she’ll get tired and wander off on her own eventually…”

---

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