Nagare entered the Sky Bar, nervously hoping Jishin would be there. He had no idea where she lived, and he had checked all of the training grounds; this was the last possible place he thought she could be. Horui sat down in a booth immediately, and got a couple of Mango Martinis. Nagare sipped at his absentmindedly as he scanned the patrons of the local "hang-out" spot. No sign of that brown, silky hair, or the blue eyes he knew so well. He sighed and sipped on his drink again. "I guess it's fine if she's not here. She might not want to be bothered. We can stay and relax for a while." Horui nodded, barely paying any attention. He was far more focused on the shirtless bartenders and the busty waitresses, which was odd for him.

Out of her element? -- Such a thing couldn't describe the feelings in her stomach as she approached the famous 'Sky Bar'. Why she was going there she rightly didn't know, almost as if an unnatural pull was forcing her to the area. The pull had also encouraged her to bust out some going out clothes, straight leg jeans which managed to hug her hips quite nicely, single shouldered white shirt, and most importantly no Hitai-Ate. On top of that she had actually decided to fix her hair a bit, nothing major just a simple ponytail, which was surprisingly frizz-less. For the night she wasn't a Shinobi, she was an average person going out on the town.

As she closed in, the bouncer took a once-over before immediately allowing her inside, to the dismay of the folks who had been waiting hours to make their way inside. Immediately the smell of smoke and debauchery hit her like a freight-train, egregiously loud 'techno' music blared in her ears, and the people about seemed heavily inebriated. So far, the night wasn't to her tastes. She locked her attention on the actual bar, almost making about two familiar figures, only to be blocked by some sleazy fellow who immediately asked her, "Mind if I buy you a drink?" she of course retorted in her usual fashion, "Yes I would mind, now piss off." the man, now rather dejected, walked off to find someone else to pester.

Once again she could make out the two figures, Nagare and Horui, was fate sending her signals? Something had forced her out, was this the reason, to force some sort of odd date between them? Seemed plausible. Walking to the bar, and deliberately ignoring the two for a moment, she addressed the bartender, "Charmides." a cocktail that she had only heard others talk about, the young Jishin wasn't much of a drinker. Her eyes moved to Nagare, a look of mock surprise filling her face "Knew I was coming here for a reason.", a genial smile pressed against her lips.

A breath of relief escaped him as he noticed a surprisingly nicely-dressed Jishin enter and went to the bar. He walked over to her and sat down, smiling as he continued sipping his martini. "I know, very stupid of me, looking for you here. I should've come to your house or something, but I don't know where you live, and I checked all the training grounds....I'm surprised you did show up. Anyways, I want to talk about, well, last night." The tone in his voice made it sound like they had done something much more serious than they had, but it was just how he was. He took this entire thing very seriously.

Horui didn't move to where Jishin and Nagare were; he figured that they would want some alone time, as hard as it was in this commotion that was the Sky Bar. He remembered how long it had been since he last visited; he did Chuckle Night with Naga and got booted out. They still got paid though. He continued thinking when he noticed a moderately attractive man and a group of equally-beautiful women with him playing some sort of card game. He figured there was no harm in trying to make friends, so he migrated his way to them.

Jishin hovered over the bar, waiting for her drink and listening to Nagare "Let's talk then.", obviously attempting to come off as nonchalant, a strange defense mechanism was popping up, she wished to pursue further relations, but there was a great fear of being emotionally harmed. Her eyes remained locked upon the bartender who was finishing her drink, soon enough he handed over the drink and took the twenty ryo the drink was priced at. Wrapping her hands around the vaguely green drink, she couldn't help but wonder why it was so expensive, unaware there was a bit of the Green Fairy within the drink. Taking a single sip the reason immediately came to her, the alcohol content in the drink was absolutely insane.

Jishin ordered a drink and said, "Let's talk then." The way she said those three words made them needle sharp with everyday attitude that felt as if they pierced through Nagare's very heart. He felt the situation suddenly grow much more insignificant than he originally thought it was; important in his eyes, but a waste of time in hers. He almost didn't want to say anything, but realized he was probably overreacting. "Look, I meant everything I said. I do really like you." a glass hit the table, full of some sort of exotic green beverage.

Nagare remembered his own and gulped a bit of it before continuing. "I just want to make sure that you were serious, too. That it wasn't just a heat of the moment kind of thing...."

Horui sat at the table that the three people he had spied were sitting at. They looked at him for a moment. One of the women, piss-drunk and sloppy, excused herself to go vomit. The second woman was sitting on the muscular man's lap, acting very "provocatively". Horui waved a hand to them as he had a seat directly across from them, and pulled out his usual pen-and-paper, writing, "Hi. I'm Horui." and passing it to the man. He looked at it for a moment, and then nudged the provocative woman off of him and scribbled, "Nice to meet you, kid. I'm Sadao." before passing it back with a warm smile that fit his defined facial features well.

Her focus remained fixated upon her drink, watching the muddled grapes float throughout it, she was unsure as to how to react when Nagare stated that he 'Really liked her', the whole situation was extremely frightening. Taking another swig of her beverage she continued to listen as Nagare expounded upon his feelings, and how he wished to know if the night before had been a fluke of sorts, forcing her to think if it was or not. Clearing her throat she looked over toward Nagare, sighing gently trying to think of what she was going to say.

"I like you too, and while I can't say that the moment wasn't in a fit of passion, that doesn't mean I don't want it to happen again." She paused to push the drink away, it being far too strong for her tastes. "Do you really want this, I mean us, becoming an item?" her view refocused upon the counter of the bar, an odd sense of shame overcoming her, as if what she was asking him was somehow wrong, or monstrous. "I'm neurotic, easily find myself getting jealous, I'm proud, and I'm as weak as anyone else. So, I have to ask you; is it me that you want to be with, or is it what I project myself to be?" A melancholy tone resided throughout her speech, a deep feeling of insecurity and general self-loathing passed through her head as she waited for his response.

"You don't mask yourself too well, because that's the girl that I'm interested in. I'm neurotic as well. I can deal with pride. Jealousy is only human, and being human doesn't make you weak. You're a stronger person that you let yourself believe." his drink was now less than half full. The taste of sweet mangoes tinged his lips. The bartender walked by and refilled the glass for free. "I want this, I'm sure of it. I just want to make sure that you won't hurt me if I give myself to you." Nagare couldn't stand the thought of having another person betray him; he'd fallen for the trick many a time, each one closing him further from humanity and socialism.

Horui, in the meantime, read the man's note with a grin. He proceeded to explain why he couldn't talk, and why he was there, and asked how the man's day was and what he was doing there and whatnot. All very typical conversation. The woman who sat with them was obviously bored by their childish note passing, and she stood, her breasts nearly popping out of her loose top as she did, and walked out of the bar with a bottle of brandy.

She hung her head low, defeated by his kind words, and for the time being at a loss of words. She wasn't sure if she could live up to that standard, of not hurting him, while she could promise to remain faithful and true, she could not say that her words would never offend, or that she would never speak out of spite. "I cannot say such a thing in good conscience, I'm imperfect and with that imperfection come such a chance of hurting you. While I cannot predict the future, I can say that I wish to be with you throughout today and tomorrow..." her stare moved from the bar back to Nagare, her usually cutting azure eyes had glassed over, almost as if she were going to shed tears. She of course managed to fight the urge to sob away, still putting up a bit of a front.

"I know it improper to say, but I find myself enamored by you." The bluntness of the statement shocked her, dazed by what she had just said. Feeling that she was at the point of no return she continued with reckless abandon, "Can you say the same? Can you say that you wouldn't harm me? That you're smitten? -- I don't want to feel my feelings are not matched by your own, it's obvious that you like me, but can you really say that you hold deep feelings? Feelings that go beyond teenage musings for company and flesh; feelings that go passed the very core of your being?" Her expression had changed from that of melancholy unto a much more stern appearance. Almost as though she was unaware she was sitting in the middle of a club, as though nothing else really mattered. After a few moments pause she realized that she may have sounded overly dramatic shaking the situation off, "I apologize, I must seem terribly melodramatic. What did I tell you, neurotic." still she partially wished he would respond in her seriousness, to proclaim his love.

She explained her feelings on the matter in as true a way as possible. It seemed she had the same desires as he, so why couldn't this be simpler? "Jishin, I promise you I'll do my best to never hurt you. And it's okay if you can't guarantee you won't hurt me. I just need to know that you'll care about my feelings, and you'll make an effort not to; that's enough." A close inspection revealed the tears building up in her eyes, and he couldn't resist. He embraced her in a warm hug, holding the position comfortably. "Can we stop discussing this, and just be together?"

Horui and Sadao continued their conversation alone. Sadao was apparently being pursued by women often, but he found his tastes in men instead. He came to the bar to see a friend, who hadn't arrived yet. Horui decided to stay for a while, at least until Sadao's friend arrived.

"I will try." She replied quietly, unsure of what else to say other than just that. She would attempt to avoid harming him, but there was an ever present possibility that she would end up doing just that, hurt him. She remained silent as Nagare gave her a warm embrace, unsure of how to react to the gesture. She thought back to her childhood, wondering about the last time someone had given her a hug, the last hug she had received was the day that she was taken from her parents, that had been such a long time ago, almost as if in a previous life. After a few moments of stiff hesitation she loosened up to the embrace, wrapping an arm around the man. Not only did she accept the hug, but she accepted the fact that the two were now in an official relationship.

All the while the bartender was staring at the two as if to say, 'This isn't the right place for your tender moments...' which, really, it wasn't. "I've never been big on the club scene." Her arm still wrapped tightly around the man, evident that she wasn't really comfortable in their surroundings, too many people, the music was far too loud, and the drinks were far too strong. "Maybe we can continue this elsewhere? -- Preferably somewhere that doesn't smell like depravity, and the music's not loud enough to make my eardrums bleed." She looked upon him pleadingly wishing to be out of the situation.

"I agree. Let's go to the cliff a few streets down. It's got a great view, and it's much quieter." The bar was quite loud, after all, and with all of the partly intoxicated, judging eyes that seemed to follow their every move, Nagare figured it would be better to continue this conversation with his new girlfriend there. He reached out his hand for hers, so that they could hold them as they walked.

Horui suddenly greeted them, smiling kindly at Jishin and typically at Nagare. Sadao stood behind him, looking a bit shy, before introducing himself to both of them. Horui scribbled on a slip of paper, "This is my friend" and handed it to them, and then gestured to the outside, suggesting that they should leave. "We were thinking the exact same thing, let's go."

"Let's get out of here." Was her reply as Nagare stated he knew of a cliff a few blocks from the bar. Jishin awkwardly stared at Nagare's hand as it was offered, there was something about holding hands that made her feel a bit uneasy. She had no problem hugging in public, nor did she with most other displays of affection, but holding hands, the action seemed to echo a sense of weakness to her, the reasoning behind which was rather unclear. She looked back toward his face, shaking her head to say no to the offer "Sorry, it's just, I'm not big on holding hands.", she was attempting to make sure that he felt it was something he had done, was more her being her enigmatic self.

Looking up from the slip of paper Horui had just passed the two she gave the man a laconic nod, unsure of what else one was supposed to do. Thankfully they then made their way to the exit, she was more than ready to get the hell out of there.

Keeping a steady pace with Jishin to guarantee they were walking side-by-side, Nagare avoided too much eye contact. He figured that if she didn't want to hold his hand, she would find most affectionate gestures similarly unappealing. "So. I noticed you got all dressed up. You look beautiful, but you didn't have to do that for me!" he said with a brilliant white smile. His vermillion eyes shimmered with this statement with both the sunlight and his own happiness.

Horui and Sadao kept up behind the two, and Sadao seemed to be describing what he did as a ninja. "I'm a medical ninja, and I often do surgeries and medical ninjutsu..." he mumbled on. This set off a light bulb in Horui's head. He telepathically commented to Naga, Did you hear that Naga!?

Heh, yeah, I heard it. Good to know, maybe we could make use of his skills soon.

"Thanks." Was the only thing she thought of in reply to his comments on her looking beautiful, she felt rather uncomfortable receiving the compliment. The whole situation felt awkward, having never been in such a position she didn't really know the protocol of the whole situation. She allowed a brief gaze over toward Nagare, thinking of what couples did, what did they do? ... Acting on impulse she moved a bit closer to him, deciding to wrap an arm around his shoulders, something about the gesture felt a bit more natural to her, rather than holding hands. Jishin continued to look ahead as she did, refusing to make eye contact in fear of seeming awkward or looking embarrassed.


((OOC: I apologize for the short post, my mind is drawing a blank.))

Jishin wrapped an arm around Nagare, probably because she felt she was being too awkward. In Naga's opinion, it was still extremely awkward, but there was no way to avoid that; the first date was always  very awkward, no matter how compatible the two people involved in the relationship are. It's only natural when making the transition from friends or even acquaintances into romantic involvement. Nagare smiled and returned the gesture, planting his arm around her upper waist so that he wouldn't seem like a friend but not like a pervert, either.

A man approached the four as they walked, and held out a hand to stop Nagare. "Give me your ryo. All of it. Now." He pulled a kunai out of a pouch connected to his leg. Nagare only smiled, and decided to let Jishin pull the first move to kick this stupid guy's ass.

A feeling of warmth emanated throughout her being as she felt the gentle caress of Nagare wrapping his arm around her waist, the feeling was quite welcome. Feelings of timidity and insecurity were beginning to slowly drift away, while minor for the moment her walls of self-protection were faltering, normally she would have considered such a thing deeply disturbing, but in this particular case it just seemed...Right.


Of course, some piss-ass had to come and spoil the moment by attempting to rob the group. Jishin stared at the damnable fool sullenly, clearly aggravated that he had interrupted such a moment. "My Ryo?" She asked in rhetorical fashion, removing her arm from Nagare's shoulder her hand reached toward her coin purse, untethering it from her side and holding it at arm's length waiting for the man to attempt to take it. Her other hand rested at her side, awaiting the chance to snatch the kunai from the thief and brandish him with a scar that would proclaim to the world that he had been stupid enough to attempt to rob a group of Shinobi. "There's roughly 2,000 Ryo within...C'mon, take it." She goaded awaiting his response, and surely enough he was idiotic enough to move forward and attempt to take the coin.

Obviously an inexperience robber, he made the mistake of leading in with his kunai, over extending his arm. Allowing a toothy smirk to press against her lips she immediately took advantage of the situation, using her free hand she immediately grabbed the man's wrist with a crushing amount of pressure, causing him to drop the kunai and attempt to pull away. A few moments later she allowed the thief his wish, letting go of his wrist and allowing him to recoil, it would be fun toying with the damnable fool before putting him into the dirt.

Quickly she turned looking at Sadao, tossing her coin purse to him. She felt that there was little risk in doing so, if he decided to be idiotic enough to run off with it he would inevitably suffer the same fate that the present thief was enduring. She then crouched, obtaining the thief's kunai, the whole situation wouldn't be ending prettily for him...

Sadao caught Jishin's purse, barely noticing it as he watched her play the bandit like a predator. Horui silently giggled as he watched, and Nagare held out his hand. A few sparks charged through his palm, and they formed three glowing daggers. He threw them at the man's chest as he backed away from Jishin when she released him. They burned through his thin shirt and electrocuted him, leaving him with 3 second degree burns on his torso. He took a few steps back and felt the wounds, letting his guard down.

Nagare turned to Horui and smiled as they waited for Jishin's move. They weren't going to intervene too much; all of their weapons and jutsu were made to be lethal and/or debilitating, save those daggers. It would be better to watch her beat the mess out of the guy.

Nagare had been kind enough to stun the moron with a few flashy-daggers-of-electricity, which ended up giving the robber a trio of electrical-burns. Jishin stood, peering at the fellow as he raised his hands in fighting stance, he seemed to be a fellow Taijutsu user. It was immediately apparent that he was a Muay-Thai user, though an amateur best, fists were far too close together. She held the kunai with her left hand, having it face toward the side of her body, rather than having it pointed toward the enemy, allowing for one to distribute more force when using it as a stabbing weapon. Her right hand remained open for grappling, she had a fair amount of confidence that she, with one hand, could counter whatever the thief could come up with.

As she predicted the thief was the first to engage rushing toward her, clearly he felt emasculated that a young lady in clubbing gear had just crushed his wrist, throwing a wild left hook. She quickly swayed under the punch, catching it with the right hand as he proceeded with the follow through. In that moment Jishin could have dispatched the man, he was off-balance, neck exposed, a quick stab to the cervical spine could have put him out of commission, but she opted for a different route, continuing the game. Quickly she drove the Kunai into the back of the thief's hand, puncturing the hand and causing the thief to shriek. Removing the Kunai, she pushed the man causing him to fall to the ground several feet away, watching as he clutched his hand, howling in pain.

Of course this was just the beginning for the fool, she had every intention of making sure he wouldn't be attempting to take money from someone's pocket for a long time. Her eyes flickered with cruel intentions as she moved closer to the thief, crouching down at his side as he remained sitting, nursing his wound. "That's not your dominant hand, is it?" Her tone was sickly-sweet, almost as if she cared that she had just grievously harmed the man, which she did not. Through pained sobs the thief replied, "N-No." which warranted an immediate response, she quickly tossed the kunai from her left hand to the right, "Fortunately for you, I lack the tools to remove your hand." she stated, causing the thief to look at her in quizzical fashion, unsure of what was about to happen to him. With a show of overwhelming force, she gripped his right hand ramming, forcing it unto the ground, then ramming the Kunai through it, as she had done with the other hand, and once more he cried out in pain. "Unfortunately for you, I have the tools to end your thievery, or at least for the moment." She really did not like thieves...

"I think that will suffice, Jishin." Nagare stated, quietly. It wasn't like him to end violence, and in all honestly, he wanted to kill the guy himself, but if they were going to be merciful, two kunai through the hands was enough. The man stood up, breathing hard. Sadao stood there, still holding Jishin's purse, and looking somewhat interested in the situation at hand. He probably didn't watch a live mugging often. Horui approached and stood next to Nagare. The two looked at the thief with a scowl. "Now, I suggest you run, and if you ever try to rob some poor victims ever again, I'll hunt you down, and sick Jishin here on you." the thief was crying at this point, and he nodded before running away.

Nagare now faced Jishin, with a tired look. "This situational 'first date' isn't going too well. How about we set up an actual one, for next week? Kind of a second chance at a first date. I'm feeling kind of odd, mostly because I don't know how to act in this situation, and the whole bandit thing....you know what I mean? It's all so odd. We'll meet up tomorrow and hang out then, set up the date and all, but I think I'm going to go train with Horui." Horui nodded reluctantly, and waved goodbye to Sadao. Sadao said a quick "bye" before going off to the left hand side of the road and walking toward the east of Kumo. Nagare hugged Jishin passionately, before breaking the embrace and walking off with Horui.

(Exit Thread)

[OOC: I've got 5 threads open and I need to do a mission with my squad, so I'm closing up this one. We could continue it another time.]

The whole evening had gone in a sort of surrealist turn, ending up with Jishin beating the shit out of a thief, quite the odd turn. She tossed the kunai off toward the side with a loud clang as it skid upon the ground. Brushing off her clothing Jishin watched as the thief ran off, with tears in his eyes, and fresh stigmata. -- Though the thief probably wasn't the second coming.

Nagare approached wrapping her in warm embrace and explaining the whole situation had become a bit of a buzz-kill, which it had. "Yeah, think I'm going to change into my normal attire, do a bit of training myself. The whole club-attire thing, it doesn't feel right." She stated plainly, releasing herself from Nagare's embrace. Quickly she retrieved her money from Sadao, giving him a curt nod. Afterward she began making her way to the clan complex, it was time to change out of the ridiculous outfit she had chosen for the night.

(Exit)