It was the middle of a rainy day when they arrived, the day before the festival, actually, and Chiaki had bought one of the raincoats that the passing salesperson told her to get, seeing the perpetual rain clouds on the horizon, she had ducked under it for cover. She couldn't imagine that the festival would take place in such a dim, dreary, and destitute place. Honestly? She didn't want to come to the festival to celebrate much of anything after what had happened in Kumogakure.

What she did want to do, however, was she wanted to get away with Akaneya, and she wanted to do something fun. It didn't look fun, going into those rain clouds, though. Anything but. She still wanted to go, and as they neared the city, she looked over at Aka, smiling, and reiterating herself, for what must have been the third time.

"This'll be fun, I guarantee it. Now, I know that you probably are going to fuss over it being too rainy, or too gloomy, but cheer up, it'll get better, I promise. There is a festival that goes on every year and I thought that you would like to go and have some fun."

She nodded, "Not only that, but with the travelling, and the hokage going on a rampage, and all of that mess, it will be nice to unwind and not do anything with the whole shinobi world for a while. Don't you think?" Looking from Aka, to the horizon, she frowned a bit, and thought about what she would say next, "I ah, I guess it isn't a great look right now, but I think that it'll be fun to go around and at least have fun at the festival. You know, look in and out of the shops, and perhaps get to see what their food tastes like. The flyer."

She handed the flyer over to Aka, "Says that there will be games, food, dancing, operas, shows, and that there is a place where you can swim, go into hot springs, and even a tunnel system where we could get lost together." A surreptitious smile crept its way onto her face as she blushed a bit.

Now one, thing that she had to make clear, was that she had dragged Aka along, not against her will, but because it would be a good bonding experience. The second thing that she wanted to get through to the woman beside her was, she was not going to take no for an answer, and if she had to literally drag her to the city she would. Not that she had to at this point, but she had some rope in her bag that would come in handy, should she have to resort to such. Not only this, but she had an idea as to what she would do in order to drag Aka to the city. She was going to have a good time, and like it... damn it.


WC: 519

"An assortment of frivolities in a strange land constantly overcast." Akaneya replied, pulling the raincoat over her shoulders as she watched the sky above. In the Land of Rice, it rained quite frequently, but many of them simply made do under these circumstances. Some wore thick cloaks, rainboots were much more common. Not that she had managed to bring any, Otogakure was well underground and she never got replacements once she outgrew them. In fact, she hardly wore shoes at all in those years. All the same, Akaneya was prepared for rain, especially given that she wanted well to protect her fancy gown and gloves. It was, after all, the only one she had.

She quickly did a couple of buttons and cinched the waist of her plastic protector, a raincoat of near equal shade to her gown except more vibrant, colorful, in the usual way that raingear tends to be more bright and neon than standard wear. It went lovely with her knee-high hot-pink rainboots anyway, not that the tops of the boots could be seen under the long skirt of the gown. She looked out over the edge of the cart and sighed, "I do not anticipate a good time here. I scarce have fun with anything, much less a crowded festival, overwhelming, full of people pushing, pulling, yelling, running, with bright noises and loud flashes, I'd rather spend my time at either of our apartments. At least there, we'd be safe from the rain and the collective sound, stench, and sight of altogether too many people in one place."

Akaneya stopped her complaints for but a moment to look out over the road they had left behind them, the two deep tracks of the cartwheels sunk in the mud, and she shifted her stance. Part of her was quietly whispering to just go for it. To jump from the cart and patiently walk all the way back to Konohagakure. "What else could compare to the tranquility of a home, the quiet, the peaceful state of being. Festivals are too loud, and I am almost grateful we celebrated none in Otogakure. The loudest it ever got was during fights, and maybe that's how it should be."

She thought through the activities. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad? At least at an opera, or a show, everyone would be relatively quiet and still. Games sounded disturbing, while food was...food. It was only as good as its contents, its ability to provide for the body. Festival food tended to fail in that regard, but who was she to assume what sort of fried teardrops they might be selling at this one? Hot springs would provide a semi-reliable bathing system perhaps, and another place for tranquility, while the tunnel system would indeed be quite isolating. That, perhaps, was the most promising, but knowing Chiaki, Akaneya knew that she would be forced to endure it all. How dreadful. She felt her knees starting to straighten, she was getting quite ready to make her grand escape. A leap to freedom. In her mind, she knew she could not do it - but preparing her body so was its own comfort.

"You make it sound glum. No need for that." She looked to Akaneya's attire, "And I want you to be cozy, comfy, and happy on this trip. You know that you will enjoy it." A small, secretive smile was shared with the red kunoichi, it was a perfect little yin and yang thing that they had going on there. Aka was a cloistered individual, while Chiaki was more of an outgoing bubbly one. Aka was calm, Chiaki was boisterous. But... But Aka helped to calm Chiaki down, and she was her best self when Aka was around. Really, she was growing more and more attached to the other girl as she spent more and more time with her.

"You don't anticipate a good time here? Have you heard of the festival?" She tried her best to bring a smile to the red woman's lips. Tried her best to cheer her up, but she wasn't feeling particularly like she could be cheered up herself. The gloom of the clouds ahead put a damper on that, and as the cart neared the village hidden in the rain, a few scant drops made Chiaki pull her hood over her head, a bright teal color, which she had opted for.

"You scarce have fun with anything, I get it, but you do have fun with me, right? I would even be so adventurous to say that you might just enjoy getting away with me, no? Away from Konoha, from all of the drama that has happened there in the last months?" Perhaps she could get Aka to at least agree to that. Perhaps there would be some silver lining to the grey clouds that lay ahead.

"And you and I both are able to keep strange hours, where we will be able to avoid much of the crowds as you will want to do anyhow, I am guessing. I ah... I forgot to tell you, the city never sleeps for the two weeks, but there are hours that we can keep to get away from the bigger crowds." She didn't particularly like big crowds either, and around the times of 2 - 8 AM was the time where people mostly slept, recovered, or at least sat down and were sedentary, rather than boisterous, loud, and altogether unpleasant like Aka had said.

"I know that you want to not do this, but there is somewhere that I want to go with you that is rather special." She didn't tell Aka where it was, or what it was, but it was the whispering cave. People were allowed to go there unattended and just listen to the sounds of the cave, of the silence there, to just... be. And it was dark, and solitary, and a great place for bonding. Or so she had heard. The cave of whispers, along with the long and winding tunnels, would be her destinations with Aka. As far away from people as possible.

"You'll see, I'll make it fun for you." She sat up in the cart and the driver guided the horse, irate that it had been caught trying to get a snack, back to the safety of the middle of the road.

"I'll even let you pick the times that we go out, the times with the least people." She promised, "And we can get you a new set of clothes, and you will get to see the things I brought for our entertainment inside of the little cavern dwelling I rented for the two weeks. I... I do want to see the festival, but I won't make you endure it at its peaks."

She bit her bottom lip, and looked tremulous, uncertain for the first time, "I just want you to have a good time, and I want to make you happy. Dragging you here is something that couples do and... and well..." She reddened and sighed.

WC: 1177

"Something special?" She asked, in that same old monotone. The one Chiaki had come to know, even to love. It was particular and peculiar, because despite being such a flat voice, there was never a time it felt detached. Hints of anger, boredom, concern, action, could all seep through. How Akaneya could both sound flat and yet constantly engaged and attentive was a great mystery to all, evidently being some trade secret of Otogakure. She scooched herself closer to the edge of the cart, another small thing to mentally ease her. Escape was closer than it had ever been and, on a whim, she could jump out. That's what she kept telling herself.

She considered Chiaki's promises. The one that stuck out the most was that they could both operate at strange hours. Indeed, that would at least mitigate the issue. "Timing is important, but it won't resolve anything. A smaller problem is still a problem, isn't it?" She posed this question to Chiaki as she mulled it over herself. She was being dragged along, metaphorically, and nudged herself even closer to the edge. At this point, she could peer over and see the ground moving beneath them quite well. They weren't actually moving that fast, interestingly enough. The ride must be to save their feet the trouble more than any sort of actual speed advantage, judging by the look of things. "We can go at quieter hours for a quieter experience, but who would be left besides us, shambling drunks, and the worst types of socialites?"

She then began to consider what else Chiaki had said. "I...you said it yourself, I scarce have fun with anything. With you, it is the same. I don't have fun, Chiaki. You know this well already. I do not have fun with you, but of all the time I spend, that with you is the most tolerable." She crossed her arms, not entirely certain of the phrasing she just put forth. "It is too meaningful to be wasteful frivolity." With this, she hoped her meaning came through well enough. She used the opportunity to scooch even further to the edge, while Chiaki wasn't entirely paying attention to that, and felt the edge so close. It was promising, truly promising.

"What did you even bring, anyway?" She asked with something that sounded vaguely like a scoff, but to anyone who knew her properly would be understood as simple curiosity. Akaneya leaned over to try to peak into Chiaki's bag, and when she caught a glimpse she fell out of the cart. Sitting too close to the edge, evidently, she had been knocked off-balance by her leaning and pushing her body into a particular angle to leer.

Catching her footing with the reflexes that only a kunoichi could have, she managed to avoid slipping and falling into the mud. She did, however, release the cart quite quickly, and watched in a bit of confusion about what just happened as it rolled away briefly. She checked over herself, noting that her dress, her coat, and the majority of the surface area of her boots, were all just fine. Not a hint of mud, dirt, dust, or covering otherwise. A good catch, indeed. What had she seen in the bag though? Her mind tried to process this.

"Something special. You'll like it guaranteed. I mean, who knows you best?" Chiaki smirked, the same deviant smirk that she gave to confuse Aka, it could mean... well... anything. It could mean that Chiaki meant to jump Aka's bones right here and now, it could mean that she meant to play a prank, and it could mean that she meant to force Aka to be cute and wouldn't enjoy it in the slightest, it could also mean that she meant to, really, do what she had promised, which was to make Aka enjoy herself.

"A smaller problem is still a problem, but I consider myself a problem, and a small one at that, and that doesn't keep you away from me. Now does it?" A flirtatious giggle emanated from the woman, one that was meant for Aka alone. She would know this, after their visit to the land of rice, the giggle had developed sometime there, something sparking between the two women. They were closer than they had been at the beginning of the trip, and going to the land of rain, Chiaki hoped to deepen that bond.

"I would say that I am one of the worst type of socialites..." Chiaki argued, "Seeing as I have no intention of interacting with anyone that isn't necessary to interact with besides you in the festival. So I would say that you have only the drunks and me to worry about." She looked out at the horizon, "And perhaps the rain, if it doesn't let up."

"I know you tolerate me, but come on, you do enjoy it at least a little bit. Deep, deeeeep down, you enjoy it. I know you don't have fun, but there is a part of you that came along because you wanted to be with me, to be next to me." She smirked, "And tolerable time is better than the alternative, surely, and you would have been bored in Konoha." She was just teasing Aka now, she knew she was, and she hoped it would work.

Chiaki wasn't paying attention, truly, because she was looking at the storm clouds ahead and wondering what they were going to do. What they were going to see, if anything at all, in that rain storm ahead.

"Oh, just you know... some stuff, like overnight things, clothes, some entertainment just in case we get rained in, my makeup, some toiletries if we get stranded, some extra travelling rations, and some emergency supplies." She rattled them off in her head, rattled them off of her tongue, not bothering with the 'entertainment' bits.

Just then, Aka made her daring escape, and Chiaki was out of the cart in mere moments after. She knew that Aka didn't want to go, but bodily throwing herself from the cart? Now... that was a bit too much. They could catch up with the cart, surely, so she was going to drag back the red-haired woman if that was the last thing she did today.

What was in the bag, was... for lack of a better word... 'entertainment'. It was something that she hoped that both of the women would enjoy, in private, in their cozy little space away from it all. And Chiaki didn't know whether aka had seen anything at all, or was just asking the question to catch her off guard.

"Now, I know you don't want to go, but let's get back in the cart, mmm?" Chiaki wasn't going to fall for Aka's tricks, she didn't want to go, but Chiaki was going to make her enjoy herself....... dammit.

WC: 1816

Chiaki reacted with a burst of speed quicker that the lightning flashing in the clouds above, and met Akaneya right in the mud where she stood. Akaneya, meanwhile, stood silently, pondering if she'd truly seen what she thought she had caught a glimpse of. Chiaki asked a question and, for once, it went right in one ear and straight out the other. Akaneya's hearing, no matter how keen, could not have heard the question - she was too busy thinking.

She thought for two things. Firstly, yes, she thought about what she thought she had seen. Moreover, though, she wondered if this might not be an opportunity to escape. "That was not...entirely intentional." She admitted, "But convenient all the same. The cart leaves without us, and I am somewhat inclined to let it. Although something you left behind on it piques my curiosity and I cannot help but wonder how far ahead you might have prepared for this journey. I noticed well, Chiaki, that you seem to have brought copious amounts of rope?"

Akaneya would smirk, if she ever did. That's a way to say she did not. But if she ever did, this would be a time. It was an almost amusing thought. "Have you brushed up on hojojutsu? Have you prepared for the eventuality of my escape in such painstaking detail? Or is there something else you aren't telling me, that I will discover over the course of the festival? I cannot understand you sometimes, but this is something I would almost feel guilty for not allowing to happen. Whatever strange preparations you have made, I suppose it is my duty to fulfill."

With this, she offered Chiaki her hand, or rather took Chiaki's hand, and began moving to catch back up with the cart. Whatever she had planned, Akaneya hoped to see it fulfilled. If for no other reason than to sate her own curiosity, of course. It was an easy feat, the cart moved slowly as Akaneya had noted earlier, and with a fluid motion she, and Chiaki, hopped squarely back where they had sat. Akaneya made another effort just to confirm what she had seen, "Curious indeed" she mumbled, and sat back in a more comfortable position. Perhaps this time she might not scoot so far, that lesson learned well. A little too well, perhaps, for Chiaki's liking. The thought of just running away had not entirely slipped her mind either, but Akaneya had a duty to fulfill; if there was anything that could be said to describe her, it was dutiful.

Maybe the festival wouldn't be so bad. Chiaki made a lot of promises, and she was a woman of her word. She kept her promises, most definitely. She knew her, and she knew her as well. Both women knew one another decently well, Chiaki knew what Akaneya could handle, and Akaneya herself only thought of Chiaki with such respect due to the similarities, rather than differences, between them. Chiaki's clever turning of Akaneya's phrases only punctuated the point all too well. So she sat, silently, patiently, awaiting whatever might come. Chiaki led the way, and that was good enough...for now.

Chiaki wasn't immediately answered, but she waited nonetheless. She knew when Akaneya was thinking, and it was weird that she was doing so right now. She closed her eyes and formed a seal sequence, thinking that Aka had seen something that put her off of the conversation earlier, perhaps something that would maybe prove fatal if Chiaki didn't react to it soon enough. She sniffed around with her special 'chakra sense' which took over her nasal receptors. She didn't smell anything out of the ordinary, the smells of rain, of mud, of the road and of the horse and man that was taking them to the land of rain all washed away. She could smell the man's chakra, nothing out of the ordinary there, the horse smelled like... horse. Then there was Aka, she hadn't really ever smelled Aka's chakra before, but it was... spicy? Hidden beneath a calm and placid exterior was a bit of spice that she'd not been privy to before.

"It wasn't intentional?" She purred, a bit of a grin on her features, she was going to have fun tying up Aka and dragging her back if she had to, She had plenty of rope for that. Then came the confession that the cart going off without them both was something that was convenient. Perhaps she should just... tie her up here?

The thought was enough to make her shake her head visibly. No... No force, not only that, the tying up would be for later. Then came the question. The question that put her off kilter. Chiaki had assumed that Aka was searching for a way to escape. Some way to fall off the cart and not get muddy, and then just walk back. But she had been off put by the rope that much, so much that she had fallen off!?

"I ah... I -I -I well- you see. There's- There's caves and- and you know, I thought rope w- would ki- kinda help with that you kn- know?" She laughed nervously, her face showing that she was lying, both by her redness in her face, but also where she was looking, up and to the left. Of course she was lying. It was there, written plain as ink upon a paper.

But it was only for Aka to call her out on it if she wanted to. Chiaki wondered, turning an even deeper red, if Aka had seen any of the other toys that she had brought along for 'entertainment' too. They were all in there, the things that she had planned were... well... they were special. She hoped that Aka would enjoy herself. And. And damnit, she would... she would make... make Aka enjoy it. Right?

"Hojojutsu Yeah!~ That's it, I've been practicing up on it. I have been studying on how to tie up people in various positions, and knots and ropes." That part, at least wasn't a lie. She had been doing that. "And I ah... I didn't think that you would try to escape so blatantly, but knew you would probably make a run for it. Not that I could really... er... make you go. I just... I just wanted to..." She put her hands together and looked down, a defeated look on her face before Aka grabbed her hand. She told her that she would feel guilty for not allowing this to happen. Wait, she was... She was giving consent to... really!?

Really!?

Chiaki's head raced, filled with all of the things that the two of them would enjoy in the festival, and almost completely forgot the itinerary, almost completely forgot the reason they were going to head into that thunderstorm ahead. No, her heart wouldn't give her time to rest, it thumped along faster than their feet did as they jumped back into the cart. She was almost distracted enough to not notice something that Aka said, almost casually.

"Curious indeed."

Now, hold up, Curious?

Chiaki spun around and looked at Aka, then the bag, then Aka again before she reached over, jerked it towards her and blinked several times, quickly, clearing her throat, "Yes, yes... ahahaaa!" She laughed, in a loud and rather, she hoped, distracting way, "Curious indeed how we're going to enjoy everything at the festival in two weeks time. It just doesn't seem like it'll be enough time at all." She shot a glance up to the cart driver's head, the back of it. He made no move, the blank look on what she could see of his face meant that he wasn't going to intervene unless they did something drastic. Like, say, blow up his cart. The horse shared his master's sentiment, but also made his lazy way from side to side, trying to sneak in a nibble. Both were miserably bored of the same trek that kept their livelihoods.

Chiaki shot a look over to Aka, an embarrassed, exposed, relieved, and giddy look, it was quick, before she cinched her bag up and put it between her legs, clearing her throat.

"As for the entertainment, I have... a... I have a lot planned." She blinked rapidly and then gave Aka a knowing look.

WC: 2702

Chiaki was a terrible liar, and her face gave away every bit of nerve she had. Akaneya, however, was not one to pry. At least, not in these circumstances. It was clear that Chiaki had some sort of special interest in keeping this a secret, a surprise for her, and by all means she intended to keep it that way at any cost. So it would be, then - Akaneya would dig no deeper. Chiaki never did anything without a reason, of course, so there must be a good reason for hiding her ulterior motives, right? Well, that made sense at any rate. Chiaki sure loved to try to spring surprises.

Akaneya thought back to her birthday. How long ago was that? Months, really, but it still felt so fresh. She thought back to that fateful day that Chiaki sprung an entire party on her, after having broken into her apartment and rifled through her things and all over her furniture, but she didn't mind. It was a surprise, not a robbery. The surprise was well performed too, as Chiaki had catered to Akaneya's interests. It wasn't some big, boisterous celebration. It was a quiet, private event between the two of them. That much was well planned indeed.

Moreover, it led to quite the shift. It was where Akaneya truly felt comfortable calling Chiaki something more than an acquaintance, drawn together by incidence and nothing more. No, she was a true and proper friend, perhaps more. Time with her was meaningful and that was something quite rare to Akaneya. Most people were so fleeting, inconsequential, often weak and pathetic and decadent and wasteful, but Chiaki was none of those things. She never seemed the sort to be one, but Akaneya truly discovered the depths of it all over time. Drawn together again and again, they began to meet by actual choice in little time at all.

It seemed like a flash, even though it took weeks to become accustomed in such a way. From their second or third meeting, though, any outside observer might've known where it was headed. The blue and red, the yin and yang, they fit one another in such a strange, peculiar, delicate, but beautiful, balance. With Chiaki, Akaneya felt almost complete in a way she'd never known was possible, not even before she left for Otogakure. It was the closest thing she had to those days, really. Chiaki was someone intimate, almost like family of a sort. Not a mother, or a sister, but a companion grown so close that she felt almost no boundaries with her.

What would even be the word for that? Akaneya didn't know. She'd heard terms of endearment before: spouse, girlfriend, wife, all these sorts of things, but she didn't know if that's what she'd call it. The words sounded so alien, so distant, there's no way those were the real worlds she was looking for. She needed something better, something closer, something truer to herself - not founded in some inane institutions, not something to put on a list, but something with true meaning. That, perhaps, might be her quest for these two weeks - to find the perfect word.

In the mean time, though, she looked once more at Chiaki. The shiny blue coat she wore was quite close to her hair color, and it reminded her once more of a sunny day. That was always how Chiaki dressed, like a clear sky and a sunny day, so vibrant and joyful that it almost made Akaneya sick. If it were anyone else, there'd be no doubt it would. But for Chiaki, there was an exception. There were so many exceptions, it was ridiculous. So many things Akaneya had always known about the world crashed in the case of Chiaki, there was something about that woman that just made things different.

She heaved a sigh and looked at the path ahead. It was still quite some time before they got there, and Akaneya's hood was still down. She really didn't mind rain that much, though she saw Chiaki's hood was up. Was she wearing makeup? Akaneya never did, at least not of her own volition. She had nothing to fear from the rain. The water weight in her hair was the most worrisome aspect but even that was of fairly minimal concern. She was protecting her gown, that was enough.

Her thoughts were beginning to run low. She had entertained herself for quite some time, through various means up to and including interactions with Chiaki. Oh, Chiaki. Actually...Chiaki! That might be a good source to cure her boredom. She'd managed to do it a few times before without even trying, certainly just being blunt with her would lead to something. Pretty much anything would be better than sitting here, bored, cycling through the same few thoughts over and over again. Alright, time to just...speak up.

"Chiaki, perhaps you can alleviate a problem for me. A...hint of what is to come, perhaps? I cannot say I fully understand your plans, but whatever forms of entertainment you might have, I would appreciate a bit of an advance. This ride is long, tiresome, and boring, and I cannot help but wonder if you are of the same mind. Certainly there is something you have that could cure the problem for both of us? If not a thing, then a conversation, I would accept nearly anything at this point. It is not desperation, but the sheer silence, boredom, the absolute nothingness that consumes this ride. I have always thought that not a moment should be wasted no matter where you are, and yet I find my space and circumstances here entirely unfitting for my...usual exercises."

"So, do you have something? Anything?"

Chiaki heard the patter of rain before she really could see it. It was something of an anomaly, rain. It got everything wet, but when you looked at each individual raindrop, you couldn't see it before it hit the ground. You had to look all the way up, pick out a raindrop, and watch it fall from such a high height that by the time that you had watched it, a trillion more had hit the ground. She breathed in, and out, letting the smells of the wet grass, the mud, the moisture hitting them like a wall wash over her. It would be a rain day, and she took her bag under her seat as the rain started, harder now. The man in front of them wore a wide-brimmed hat, and as the rain started to splatter on it, he just readjusted it so that the rivulets of water ran down the hat, onto the jacket that he had below, and pooled at the base of his spine. He was wearing waterproof wear, and even his gloves, it seemed, were waterproof, the water beading, but never absorbing into the materials.

This was his livelihood, why wouldn't he be wearing waterproof things? Chiaki wondered, as the thunderclouds finally eclipsed the sun, the sun that they had enjoyed so much, muting the colors all around her. The fiery hair that bounced next to her was muted to a dull red, the color of blood.

Blood.

Chiaki zoned out for a while at that point in time. She left Aka to think on whatever she was thinking on and stared straight ahead, perpendicular to the cart as it bounced along and thought of the blood that she had spilled, the blood that had been spilled for her, the blood that had run freely from innocents to slake the thirst of a Hokage slighted. It was a bloody world, the shinobi world, and a shinobi's life both came in like a lion, and went out like a lion. Both born in blood, and died in blood. She had never heard of a Shinobi that had once, yet, retired to old age, just content with leaving that world behind. But Chiaki was going to try to do it anyhow. She was going to open a Hospital in the middle of the world. But she had to have more power to do so, more wealth, more influence. She had to have more to do with the world and its workings, before she could stand the task of running a hospital in the middle of the great 5 nations.

Chiaki had already scoped out some land that was in the land of Iron, just upwards of Konoha, in the middle of the five great nations, the one called Sunagakure she had just recently learned about, but had to keep a tight mouth on her for it, as she was instructed to do by both her better judgement, and by the Kazekage.

She knew what happened to the previous village and, well, she didn't want to be responsible for another repeated situation where the village would be glassed over. The whole of it destroyed and reduced to a ruddy colored glass. She had seen the ruins of the village on her way out of the new village, headed towards Konoha. Chiaki hugged her coat around her more, the rain pattering off of her hood in an almost hypnotic white noise way. She would make sure that she didn't have that happen to anyone else. She swore it.

But as soon as she swore it, Aka spoke up, breaking the silence. She blinked rapidly, the ghosts that haunted her were burned off by the fire that sat next to her. The red hair that wouldn't be tamed, no matter how much water you poured on it. Chiaki grinned and nodded, "Well, I had hoped that we could practice bonding. Basically the art of knot tying, the art of both being tied and tying others. It is an art that I had a chance to buy a couple of books on, and have now seen a very intricate amount of knots. Ah... Let me see."

She pulled out a rope from her bag, one that was small, not coarse, as she had run a knife over it and burned off the stray strands like she had been instructed and snapped it in her hands. It was a material that wouldn't stretch, so it wouldn't run the risk of harming either of them. "Right, so let's take your hand here for example." She would take Aka's into her own and start tying little knot after little knot, weaving a makeshift sort of glove, with knots over each knuckle, four knots below those, three knots below those, and then met in the middle with another knot. The knot that met in the middle was tied, and indeed it took a while for her to do so, but as soon as it was, she tugged on the knot in the middle, picking up Aka's hand, the weight distributed evenly throughout Aka's hand. "The knots make it easier to distribute the weight evenly, and makes it harder to get out of than just wrapping someone in ropes. It..."

She blushed, "It had many uses, and well, I was hoping to show you some more of them when we get there, if the rain doesn't let up."

She looked over her right shoulder, wondering how much of the trip she had burned off, and indeed, the city that was Amegakure, the village hidden in the rain, jutted out of the raincloud, just barely visible with all the little droplets that fell from the sky. The City jutted up like some sort of iron spire out of the middle of two hills. It looked almost... dead? From where she was. She certainly hoped that it would be worth the trip. The caves, those would be better no?

"I am worried... to be honest... that our trip will be spent mostly in our room, in the back of a cave, tucked away from everyone else, especially if this rain doesn't let up. And we might as well have just stayed back in Konoha but. But if it does let up, We're going to do everything, even if the things are at strange hours."

She frowned, "It's just... I don't know who to trust in Konoha anymore, with all that has happened, with all that I have been through, and have been taught. It's been..." She shook her head, putting the thought away she just scooted closer, resting her body against Aka's, not on Aka, per se, but just... touching.



WC: 3835

Akaneya was certainly amused by the knotwork. It was something to take her mind off of the long trip, almost hypnotic watching knot after knot tied in sequence on her hand until she had two layers of gloves, a network of rope tightly hugging her joints. She felt Chiaki pull and her hand followed suit all too easily, and upon release she opened and closed a fist a couple of times. Quite fascinating work, really. The ingenuity of using physics and anatomy against your foe. It's a shame it would take far too long to see any practical battlefield use, though for prisoner transport it could most certainly have its uses. She pondered what books or magazines Chiaki might've had to pour through to get this information, or if she had perhaps just figured it out herself following a line of logic attained from her medical training.

For that matter, she noticed just as well that she wasn't entirely sure where to start by undoing it. Probably the central knot if she had to guess, that seemed like the terminus. Even still, if she undid that, she'd need to undo all the others in the proper sequence just as well. It would most certainly be a particularly troublesome effort, as Chiaki promised - much harder to escape than just coiling the rope. Although, now that Chiaki seemed a bit distracted, perhaps uneased, Akaneya began to wonder if she'd be on her own to undo it. Certainly, Chiaki was making no rush at all to get her out, and...what's wrong?

The city was right there, not too far. Time-consuming indeed, they'd burned off almost just the right amount of time with that little demonstration. It was then that Chiaki began to rattle out her worries for the trip - that they'd be stuck inside most of the time, unable to enjoy the festival at any hour due to constant raining. She seemed hopeful, though, as she always did: hopeful that things would get better, that they would explore every nook and cranny of the festival by its end. The thought wasn't sounding as revolting as it had initially, so at least there was that consolation.

But that wasn't it, not really. Something heavier weighed on Chiaki's mind, and it was clear. So clear, in fact, that she made it known publicly. She spoke, quite directly, of her feelings. Things Akaneya hadn't been involved in, things she didn't know, but things had clearly happened to Chiaki to put her in such a state. It almost seemed like she had lost the innate goodness, hope, and trust she seemed to put into just about everything and everyone she met. By the end of it though, Chiaki brushed it off and against Akaneya, leaving her to ponder what had been said without any real proper conclusion.

"It...seems that you now..." She sighed, and put her arm around Chiaki's shoulder. The little rope lines and maybe knots could be potentially felt as she pressed down gently, "You see the world as I have always seen it. The world is...dangerous. Troublesome. Everyone is untrustworthy, just as likely to stab you as anything, willing to do whatever it takes to advance themselves or pull down their enemies without care for the costs or considerations or consequences."

"I have always thought of the world in such a way. It is cold, dark, and cruel. It is lonely. You can trust nobody, and you are nothing but a number, a tool, or a liability. You must always be on your guard, always be prepared. You must oftentimes make the first move, to betray them while they are still a tool to you and not a liability. While you are a tool, you must continually prove your usefulness or else be regarded as a liability, and wait to be discarded. All wear some mask of ideology, of promise, of benevolence, but this is the ultimate truth behind each and every mask. The Hokage is no better than my master, in many regards. We really are all the same on our best behavior, aren't we?"

She paused, and gripped Chiaki a bit tighter. "But there was one person who taught me that I was wrong. That this was not universal. One person who stands as an exception, a constant exception, to everything I have ever known. That's you, Chiaki. You brought me out of that world, and you taught me that there is nothing that is universal, that is absolute, about that way of thinking. You did it with only one word, you told me only one thing that changed it all. Do you still remember what you said?"

She paused, if but for a moment, to offer Chiaki the chance to respond. Throughout this whole speech, she'd refused to even turn her head and face her companion. Once the break was over, she responded, once more not even looking in her direction - "Let me issue a reminder, perhaps." And, in one fluid movement, she brought Chiaki's lips to her own and planted a tender, delicate kiss, softer and gentler than anyone could ever have imagined Akaneya would ever be with anything.

Chiaki muttered something incoherent into Aka's shoulder as she buried her face there and listened to her. She didn't even know what she said, something between, 'I'm trust worthy.' and 'I don't think every thing's all bad.' If Aka had really good hearing it came out as 'i'm-trust-worth-ings-all-bad-don't-think-it-is.' She exposed her face to the rain, it felt cool against her hot skin, as she had just noticed how vulnerable she was. She had been through a lot, a flashback from the past came, where she had been taken and tortured by Orochi Risu, had been tested to become one of the medical corps, had to relive the warpath, had to kill for the village. She was... She was done with it all.

Aka's words made some semblance of sense. She didn't want them to, she wanted to be the same girl that Aka had met, the same girl that she had wanted to be when she had passed the test to become a Jounin. She wanted to uphold her views of the world, her values, her beliefs. But those had been reduced to dust, ground into the dirt, and then force fed to her by Orochi Risu. When she slept she saw slitted yellow eyes, when she had nightmares, they were always perpetrated by the snake woman. But... but she was a victim. A monster that the world had birthed.

Was Chiaki any different? She nuzzled closer to Aka, taking her in with her arm around her hip and hugged her close, almost otter-like in her movements. She needed a good cuddle. That would help, at least for now.

She nodded to the question that Aka asked, "Y-yeah. We are all wearing masks to hide our true faces on our best behaviour. I just... I just thought that everyone was like me. I thought... I thought that no one was wearing a mask. That there was good in the world." A glum undertone wet her words and made them muddy in her mouth.

Chiaki looked at Akaneya, or attempted to huddled against her shoulder, all she could see was a toussel of red hair, red lips, and could hear the voice, the calm and soothing voice of Aka. She spoke honeyed words, words that were supposed to make Chiaki feel better, and... and... damnit, they were working. Chiaki huddled closer, feeling sheepish now, more than anything. She didn't think she was that special, after all, there were people who gave their entire lives for causes, gave their own existences to protect the people of the village. She just volunteered because she thought it was fascinating. Wanted to get strong so that people... the innocents that didn't have anything to do with altercations, could be healed... She... she got strong so that she didn't have to feel the way she did on the day of burning bodies.

"I? -heh..." She blinked, a loss for words at the question. A word? A word she had spoken? Really? Uh, what was it? One word? The quiz took her mind off of the wagon, off of the world around her, dulled her senses and she drew inwards looking through her past in order to try to retrace her steps. What had she sai-.

Then came the kiss, Aka scooping Chiaki's lips up in her own, enfolding them and Chiaki made a soft squeak of surprise. Surprised, and confused, and then, a realization. A realization that this is what she had done in order to bring Aka around. It was cute, too cute, too soft, too sweet. Chiaki melted into the kiss, her body pressing against the red woman's, her hands tracing Aka's stomach, pulling her closer by her hips, and the awkward way they were seated didn't help, but Chiaki wasn't to be deterred. She wanted to feel Aka, wanted to be with her, wanted to feel the warmth come off of her body, wanted to taste her lips, wanted to breathe her air. She wanted to let the shinobi world be damned for a moment and just enjoy the patter of the rain on them both, playing out a melody which they played harmony to with their lips.

Her eyes were closed, but she could feel every heart beat of Aka's, could smell every breath, could sense every strand of hair as it was assaulted by the rain. She could... she could smell the rain on their lips, could taste Aka beneath it all, and it was a primal and lustful thing, but it was also pure. She couldn't bring herself out of the passion of it all. Chiaki was a heart-first person, that was how she dealt with 90% of the world, and her head was completely inundated by the woman she was kissing. The cart shifted into the darkness, and she was just sitting there with Aka. The world didn't have to make sense, not when Aka did, Not when the woman she was sitting next to did.

She parted from the kiss and let out a surprised sigh and half-laugh. Biting her lower lip, she lowered her eyes, blushing, "I ah... I... I remember that. I wasn't sure when I did it, but... But it felt so right. And it always has, no matter how many times we re-affirm that." She snickered a bit, brushing her fingertips across her own lips before looking into Akaneya's eyes, "I uhm... I actually took you to mean a literal word, you minx." She gave a small and fox-like grin.

The patter of rain on the cart had fallen away, and indeed within the span of the kiss, they had made their way over another hill. There were no more obstacles between them and the sprawling city, a city of iron that never rusted. An industrious city. It was beautiful in its own way, the way that it jutted out like a knife in the midst of the landscape. A lightning blast shattered the silence that had permeated the meadow, as it ripped down the side of a building and coiled around a copper coil at the base of the building. They harnessed the rain, made it work for them. They knew how to tame the lightning, these artisans turned architects.

What prowess, and monstrous beauty. It was a stark contrast to the beauty that Aka had shown her in the forest. A natural one. This one was shinobi built, and was a testimant to the ingenuity of man, it almost reached the heavens, and, really, had the clouds been a bit lower, it would have scraped the underside of the sky like a shiv.

Chiaki, however, was a woman of the nature, her looks, as well as Aka's were those of a natural, a feral almost kind. And one couldn't help but wonder what natural beauties were doing, venturing so far out of their way into a territory so alien to them both.

WC: 5024

She had, evidently, truly managed to surprise Chiaki. As the blue one grinned and her and called her a minx, Akaneya blushed heavily and averted her gaze temporarily. Just for a moment, a single, solitary moment, but without ever pushing her companion out of the little snuggle they'd gotten themselves into. The gaze quickly returned at a glance, before much like Chiaki she began to observe the steel behemoth they'd just managed to wander into.

The towering giants all around them were impressive to say the least. She'd never seen buildings of such scale before, even the Hokage's administrative building seemed to pale in comparison. These iron towers seemed almost to block out the sky, though rain still came it was at least somewhat dulled in its effect from the gargantuan spires. She, like Chiaki, saw how lightning was led, coiled away from the roof and down to the ground, with all the showiness that one might expect from a civilization that build structures so conspicuous in such a place to begin with. At least it wasn't boring, she could say that much. Perhaps, just perhaps, this long ride might've been worth it after all?

Well, it would be worth it. Chiaki was determined to make it so, and Akaneya was inclined to believe her. She had something planned, and the little preview that yet clung to her hand was show enough of that. She didn't entirely comprehend, but one might suppose that was the point of a surprise was it not? She just knew that the thought would linger in the back of her mind for the entire trip, no matter what else they did. Was that Chiaki's strategy? To keep her in anticipation the whole time? Maybe, just maybe, it was. She was unpredictable in every way, always defying expectations and subverting normality that she was Akaneya's own personal constant exception. In truth, she thought that she'd prefer nobody else for that role.

The cart clattered and clanked across the cobbled stones, clambering closely to an edge that peered to certain death on one side, and a rising height to the other, next to a building. It was a one horse road, for a good hundred feet before it widened and people started to appear, bustling about in raincoats, muttering to each other in the weather and looking up at the sky, their faces were... hopeful? Chiaki looked around and, taking in the sites, they were lead into the heart of the city. The cart made a stop and the man that was at the head of it spat, turned around and blinked, "Bought and payed for miss, and miss." He nodded to Chiaki, then to Akaneya.

Chiaki nodded and clambered out of the cart with her bag, holding her hand out to help Aka out if she would wish to be helped, and then walked her wet self over to the side of the road to look about. Once there, she called out to the man, "Where's the hotel?"

He pointed to a road that wound to the left, a great wind, and out of site behind a building, before she looked back and saw he was holding his hand up to either stop her from saying more or in farewell. Well, that was quite... quite rude. She huffed and threw her bag over her shoulder, trecking along she wound her way around the building and found that the street lead further to the left and disappeared underground. It was lit with electric lights, and it indeed seemed like a thoroughfare.

She walked down and out of the rain, the rivulets stayed in the gutters, where they were meant to be, and she pulled out a piece of paper from her bag, consulting it. It was a roughly drawn map, but it made an almost complete circle, before veering to the left at what was a hastily scrawled, "Biddly's two bob shop."

"Uh." Chiaki looked the map up and down, "I suppose I should have staked this out before making a reservation via post. But it looked so charming in the pictures they sent over." She shrugged in an apologetic way to Aka and started down.

They wove their way through the crowd and stopped at 'Biddly's' Chiaki turned the paper upside down and peered around the corner.

There, their little hole in the wall where they would be staying, was the hotel. It was less a hotel and more a cabin for rent, or rather, a hostel... She couldn't really tell what the correct term for it was, but it didn't have a front desk, just a set of keys that she had been sent via post and she walked up to the door of the place. The windows were made of a thin glass, and everything seemed tidy, scant, but tidy.

Setting key into lock, she turned to the right and the doorknob moved with the key, granting her entrance. Turning it experimentally to the left, just to make sure that she had the right house, it turned the tumbler and locked itself again.

"Well, Got the right place." She smiled to Aka, then threw the door open wide.

WC: 5568

Just as quickly as they had joined the cart, the two women were unceremoniously dumped from it. That is to say that, with no great rush or particular haste, they quietly and carefully collected themselves and made gentle steps off, with Chiaki giving her hand to help Akaneya down. The former inquired where they should be going, and a simple hand was pointed to the proper direction. After this, there was only but a quiet wave and he was off. Unceremonious indeed, the two were left to their own devices, strangers in a strange land, navigating the twisted metal labyrinth that was the soggy, foggy, and overall cloggy city that they had found themselves in.

At least for Akaneya, though, this was nothing new. She'd done this before with Konoha, and so she could do it once more for this strange place. Sure, it was moister, taller, and definitely tighter, but the same principles applied. Without much fuss or hesitation, she followed the directions that they had been roughly given, glad to be on solid ground once more as she kicked her way through puddles, slightly cleaning the bottoms of her hot pink boots as she walked. This jungle of iron and concrete was an interesting sight to behold, but she was not one to be intimidated so easily. Still holding Chiaki's hand, the rope net that the blue one had placed still very much present in the grip, they took all the time in the world to walk at a moderately fast pace around the turning twists and winding bends that the street brought them through until it quite simply ran out of ground.

Or...underground.

It was curious indeed. Was this some sick joke, a sewer access pipeline perhaps? No, no, it didn't smell nearly bad enough. Was it, perhaps, a mine at one point. Was this the mine that they had emptied out to build their city of steel, beckoning the lightning with the hubris of their towers to scrape the very heavens above, a dark tunnel below to descend to their lies? Whatever the origin, it was clear that this tunnel was now some form of habitation - the lights and sounds coming from within gave it away all too clearly. They took only but a couple of steps inside and Chiaki checked some sort of map, and questioned her own choices.

"It is no matter," replied Akaneya, "a comfortable hovel away from prying eyes and bustling streets is far preferable to luxury with publicity."

The two made their way to the hovel, the door more specifically, and Chiaki tested the key. It was, indeed, the right key, and so she opened the door. Akaneya pushed it after her companion showed some hesitation, and it swung open gently. Not too heavy, but definitely a thick door. The room was indeed quite quaint and certainly charming, at least as far as anyone could really be concerned. It seemed quite spacious, perhaps cut from the living rock and thus holding all the room it might need. She stepped inside and looked around more properly to get a good feel for the room.

The first thing she noticed was the soft carpet beneath. Her boots obscured the feeling somewhat, but she could tell. The strands were not overly long, perhaps of moderate length, but they had a certain plushness about them. She was immediately glad, of course, that she had been drip-dried over the course of the underground walk, and moreover that all the mud on her boots would've certainly washed or scraped off by this point. That went for the both of them. Nice carpet aside, there was a cozy dining space with two or three chairs and all the necessities built into the plaster wall, a room with dedicated laundry equipment, a full bathroom with all amenities including an extra-large tub, and lastly a singular large bed in the sleeping area that they immediately entered into.

The neutral color palette that permeated throughout the area, with brown-beige walls, creamy but dark carpeting, and the clean-looking bed, all lent a very-

wait

a singular bed?

Oh boy.

With a blush, Akaneya motioned Chiaki to come inside. The doorway was certainly large enough to accommodate both women at once. She gave a vague gesture to the entire space and exhaled deeply: "I suppose you have chosen wisely."

Chiaki nodded to what Akaneya said about the hovel before she opened the door and peered inside. It was like her apartment, all of the amenities were there, along with necessities and Chiaki knew that she would need to stock the refrigerator for breakfasts and such if they should want to have any sort of breakfast in bed, but nonetheless it seemed homey. A couch, a television, and all the space in the world for two people.

Chiaki wiggled her toes under the soft carpet and smiled, "No, this'll work, I am sure that it will be a good place to st-" She froze and looked at the singular bed. Oh, she had forgotten to ask about that. Well, er... Best to play it off as planned, "Stay. Sorry, I just noticed that there is a horrid bed-covering on the bed, but I am sure we can flip it." She shrugged non-chalantly, trying to bluff and keep the blush out of her own face. It didn't work, for all of her training, she had never been taught how to properly lie. It got her into trouble more than once so far in her shinobi life, and probably would again.

She entered the apartment and shut the door behind her, sliding the locking mechanism back into the locked position. No reason to not keep it locked even when they were in. Chiaki shrugged off her own raincoat, revealing her chinese styled dress beneath, with bright yellow floral pattern and dulled yellow trim. She had been wearing rain boots, but quickly stepped out of those and rummaged through her bag. She took out some flip flops, yellow ones, and tossed them to the ground before stepping into them and wiggling her toes.

"Shall we take a tour of the place then?" Chiaki smiled, "I suppose we should plan who will be on what side of the bed, and also choose somewhere to go for dinner." She picked up a pamphlet and flipped through it trying to see what types of food they had. A puzzled look came upon her face. "I don't know what any of these dishes are, or even what type of food this is supposed to be." She frowned a bit deeper and then shrugged, "Perhaps you've been here once before?" A bright and cheery smile replaced all of what had once been a frown as she bounded over to Akaneya and held out the pamphlet in her hand.

Indeed it had all of the food places, all of the festival mapped out for tomorrow, and all of the popular attractions. It even had a special 'for couples' dedicated section of about 10-15 pages. It was a sort of tourist's guide, and Chiaki hoped that Akaneya would be able to make more sense of it than she would. She wasn't a cartographer, and usually wandered around until she got her bearings, rather than going by a map. Perhaps one of them would have a good sense of direction, or at least... good sense.

WC: 6081

As soon as they had arrived, Chiaki was already losing her tongue. It was almost record speed, really. A flash of blue lightning struck and a pamphlet was shoved in her general direction, leaving poor Akaneya to pick up the pieces and figure out what their plans should be. The first issue addressed was of much simpler concern, at the very least, and could be resolved quite easily with only a simple phrase: "Which side either of us uses is ultimately irrelevant, I don't care which one I end up with, and I don't particularly expect such assigned sides would end up sticking for the entirety of our trip anyway."

She took a seat, shrugging off neither her coat nor her boots, and looked through the available information. There were certainly plenty of different restaurants, but Akaneya didn't bother reading them in detail. She just looked for key words, seeing what might only be a bakery perhaps, or a butchery, or a garden, instead of a ramen shop, or a barbecue, or so on and so forth. It seemed all sorts of quick booths, selling fried food and treats, had been set up for the festival - the sort of place you go, get something, and then eat on a public bench. No, no, that wouldn't do. It'd been a long travel, and she had a sneaking suspicion that festival food would consume their lives in the time to come. Variety is the spice of life, so the saying goes, and so she instead glanced at more sit-down places. Whatever their dress code, she was certain she was dressed for it. Chiaki, on the other hand...

She looked the blue one up and down. It was good enough. She thought so, at least. She was never an expert on any of that. An idea struck her as she thought through the options before her, and looked at the rough directions and a map or two that had been provided. Interesting, interesting indeed. A good idea, perhaps? Of course, this place seemed to do takeout just as well, though not delivery, but if they wanted to eat at 'home' it would seemingly be fully possible. That was always a good option to have, of course. Flexibility was key to success, as...well, surely someone says that.

"How about a ramen place?" She gave the proposal as a question, but seeing how frantically Chiaki had presented it to her, it really was more of a statement in function. It only seemed fitting, really. The two had bonded over ramen the first time that they had met, and now they were all alone once more. Well, they were always all alone, but now they were in unfamiliar territory too. To return to the basics, and to the start of it all, would be hopefully a welcoming comfort. It made sense, no?

"It isn't too far, and it is an actual establishment - not a booth. It offers us a chance to get real food, and to sit down for a bit either there or to bring back to here, and to eat in comfort. It seems fitting."

Chiaki nodded to the bed situation, biting her lip and thinking that Aka had planned as much as she had hoped for. Perhaps even more? She had brought rope, toys, some entertainment if things went south and also had brought more cash than she really thought was necessary just in case of an emergency, or Aka kicked her out. It was their first time staying together, really, and she didn't know what was going to happen.

Sure, they would always have the land of rice, but she wanted this time to be special.

Chiaki heard the pages rustle and peered over Aka's shoulder, she shuffled through the pages one by one, looking at all of the foods that went by many different and weird names before stopping on, of all things, a ramen shop. Well, she knew what the ramen shop would have and what it wouldn't. So yes, she nodded to Aka, that was a good idea.

"Sounds like our first date, you know all those months back?" She grinned, trailing off for a bit and then tilted her head, "Where it ended in our first, if not clumsy, kiss? You played for flute for me? It was so cute, and I felt so embarrassed afterwards I could hardly sleep that night." She grinned, a blush coming to her face just remembering the past experience.

"I ah." She stopped twisted her foot on the floor and looked around, "I was wondering if you thought that this place was good enough to stay?" She blinked and walked up, attempting to grab Aka's hand in her own and would squeeze it gently if she got hold of it, "I picked it out because it said that it was a hideaway from the rest of the festival, a 'rest haven' they called it. I hope that it suits your needs? Perhaps, even, some of your wants? And doesn't bring up any bad memories from the past?"

She didn't know what the cell looked like, exactly, she had never gotten to see it in the land of rice, nor did she know whether being underground would be good for Aka, but that was up for Akaneya to decide. Dark would be descending soon, and with it, apparently, the clouds would part, leaving the first night of complete clear skies in the land hidden in the rain.

"I hear that there will be an opening ceremony for those here tonight, people will take to the roofs, the windows, the streets, and the surrounding areas to watch the clouds part. I have a perfect place to watch as the opening ceremony takes place. We won't be able to hear anything except the fireworks, but I don't want to hear the speech anyhow."

"That- that is unless y- you want to hear the speech?" She backpedaled and put her hands in front of her before letting them droop to the ground, along with her head, "I really should have involved you in the plans."

WC: 6587

She paused to think, mulling a few things over. There were a few things to think about really, but she considered them all together. The real question was what order to address them in, it seemed appropriate that perhaps she should start with the more recent question this time? The speech and the crowds, what was all of it really for? The parting clouds? Would they be parted for the whole festival, or would they gather back periodically? Did she bring a raincoat for nothing? Akaneya put her roped hand to her mouth, clasped her jaw a bit, and thought for a second longer. How would she answer?

With only a moment more, she finally responded - "I...suppose the speech is likely not going to be all that important. I can't imagine what, of substance, could really be said. By avoiding the speech, we can also dodge the thickest parts of the crowd as well, that we will be much more alone, with much more breathing room. It sounds, ultimately, to be a superior option."

That cold reptilian logic came through once more, to Chiaki's benefit nonetheless. Maybe she was being as genuine as ever, or maybe she was just trying to make Chiaki feel better about her choice. After all, even though Akaneya hadn't been consulted, she presented a line of reasoning that seemed to suggest Chiaki knew what she preferred and made appropriate choices anyway. That had to be a compliment of a sort, right? At least as much of a compliment as someone like Akaneya could really come up with at any rate.

She got up and began to head for the door, "We will have to go get our food. We can sit there, or here, but it cannot be delivered." As she got to the entryway again, she turned back and looked over the place. The little hovel. She sighed, "This place, it is..." she paused, seemed almost to shake for a second, and made a half-cough sort of like a choke, "It is good," she finally spat out. Good? That was perhaps the rarest of all words, and she had just hacked it out like a wad of phlegm. The word simply did not exist in her vocabulary, one of many, but there she went using it! Crazy. "The hovel appears comfortable, very much suitably private, very well free from the rain above, and quite insulated. It is a good choice, and I can appreciate your considerations in that regard."

"I am glad you're not mad at me." She grabbed her coat and put it on over her dress again, but didn't zip it up, leaving it loosely hanging off her shoulders. She did, however, tie the belt around her waist to cinch it up and looked down at herself, "Err, casual attire?" She tilted her head as she went to the door."

"I ah, I thought that you would want to be alone, well, together, alone." She stammered, walking out the door and waiting for Akaneya to come out. When they were both outside, she would lock the door and stuff the key into her pocket, "Before we go to the place where I had set up, we're going to need to come back here and get our swimming suits." She nodded and started to walk in the direction they came from, but stopped short.

"I just realized I have no idea where I am going," A small and sheepish smile lit her face, "Do you mind leading? There is no reason why I should lead where I have never been with no sense of direction."

Indeed, Chiaki had put on makeup, a dark blue eye shadow and lipstick to match, she blinked and tilted her head, then gave a cheesy grin. It was something that rarely anyone had seen, because she didn't like portraying herself that way. She liked to be seen as a put together, tidy, and altogether with it person. Only with Aka did she show her vulnerable side, and she felt... she felt safe doing that.

Strange.

WC: 6853

Chiaki had a point. She shouldn't exactly be taking the lead when she didn't know where she was going. That was something Akaneya could agree with, but something she shrugged off as she passed in front of her companion and began walking down the long tunnel once more. She did say something though, quietly, under-her-breath, while she was right up next to Chiaki. "I don't have a swimsuit. I've never needed one."

With that statement, the two women walked the whole way down the tunnel until going into a little side door. How convenient, the ramen shop was right there in the tunnel! They didn't even need to go up to the surface for a nice, warm meal. That, certainly, would make it all the more pleasant of an experience. The service was good, the meal warm, and the actual bowls good. As on their first 'date', Akaneya let Chiaki pick for the both of them. A wonderful little detail to really throw back to that fateful day, yes indeed.

The meal seemed to go quickly, at least for Akaneya. If pressed on the matter of the swimsuit, she'd explain herself: that she either went naked, wrapped up like a sarong, or would simply shed her outermost layer of clothing, leaving whatever mesh undershirt, breast wrap, tight shorts, etc. that she had underneath and use those for coverage. This was her ultimate, and very practical for most situations, solution. How typical for her, then. After the meal was just the simple walk back, and then Chiaki may or may not take control of the night. Only time could tell.

[Exit]

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Chiaki nodded, waited for Aka to take the lead and pressed forward. The city kept surprising her with how labarinthine it was and also by how big, and expansive it was. It looked cloistered, huddled together even when they had first entered, but the more that she and Aka went through the city, the more that she was impressed by the ingenuity, the inner workings, the cogs and wheels of the city. It was an impressive amount of engineering, that was for sure. She couldn't fathom how many people, how many decades, how much planning must have gone into the infrastructure here, but here it stood.

"You don't." She stated, then jerked her head back, shook it a bit and raised an eyebrow as if that was the funniest thing that she had heard in her life, "Well, you know that the swimming in the cenote is clothing optional, but I didn't take you for someone who would want to do that, as you seem to know when to dress in a more spartan dress, and in a more fashionable way. I mean... right? I didn't think that you would go... go naked?" She gulped, and looked from aka to the ground, to aka again.

They entered the shop, the sweet smell of meat, eggs, noodles, and rice wafted to the air and a woman, plump as the day is long, waddled around to take everyone's orders. Well, she didn't so much as waddle, as she did parade through the place. She didn't once knock against a table, didn't once misjudge her dimensions, and it seemed a dizzying thing, Chiaki thought, as she moved from place to place. She was completely comfortable with who she was, and what she was about. She scooted the girls into a booth and Chiaki picked up the menu, ordering the pickled egg in her ramen, and the regular egg in Aka's she ordered the same dish that they had shared on their first date. It seemed poignant to make sure that Aka knew that this was a reward for taking her along with the land of Rice escapade.

They sat and chatted, and by chatted, they discussed what happened in the land of rice, or rather, the events that transpired were given a mulling over, without much input on the subject.

Chiaki twisted the chopsticks in her fingers and tossed one up, catching it deftly with the same hand, she was getting better at this, her dexterity now dwarfed what it had in the past months, and she was almost as dextrous as the kage now, or she felt like she was.

"Well, I suppose that er... we could go shopping for a swimming suit if you'd really like?" Chiaki tried to press the issue once more, a tentative answer. Aka answered that she would go either naked, wrapped up in a sarong, whatever that was, or simply shed her outermost layer of clothing, leaving her breasts exposed, which didn't do any good to keep from 'the big reveal'. Chiaki sighed and shrugged in a 'you got me' manner. "Alright, we'll go nude." She looked around, "But we will need towels, so we need to go to the hotel first anyhow. I will go ahead and tie the key to a string and the string to my wrist to keep them with us in the pool too, that way we can lock up our clothes and belongings and still swim in the nude."

It was preposterous, and she would normally had said no, but with Aka, she felt... adventurous? She felt like she didn't have to be pristine, she felt like she didn't have to be perfect, and besides, she would be able to show off the physique that she had been working on!

How delightfully perfect.

WC: 7500

Exit thread: Gaining 3 EP