Trouble in the Waters [Plot]

[katas]

[atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,435,true][atrb=vAlign,top] ❝ YOU'RE SOMETHING DEADLY THAT I JUST CAN'T PUT MY FINGER ON. ❞ WORDS 542 TAGS characters NOTES write anything you want here!

[atrb=vAlign,top] The day young and the air cool, a slight breeze making its way through the village. The usual hustle and bustle were just beginning to get started and slowly but surely the background noise of people talking and carts moving rose on the decibel scale. However, that was all it would be, background noise. Nothing eventful had taken place yet and one would doubt a day such as this would hold such things, though it was all a matter of perspective. Indeed there were troubles brewing in the Kirigakure, but it was not a war between men but of the heart. Dark hues scanned the boring landscape that made up the village. Tan buildings topped with vegetation that were shrouded in mist that only slightly obscured vision. He had seen this sight hundreds, maybe thousands of times during his lifetime and it had since lost its appeal long ago. That mattered little today, however, as it was very well the last time the Genin would see such a sight. He had performed one of the most egregious acts in all of man kind and was sure to pay for it today. He had ignored a woman, but not just any woman, it was Iku. Though they had not officially committed to any relationship they were pretty much in one, though that was a matter of perspective as well. While Kuro had come to be known in the teenage circle as a bit of a ladies man, and his usual mantra was to talk to a woman and then move on to the next one after he had his fun, but Iku was different, and she knew it. She interested Kuro to a degree that he had never known before along with being pretty hot. It wasn't like he wanted to ignore her, it was just that his mind had been elsewhere as of late. A week or so ago Kuro had come into contact with one of his now rouge clan members named Natsuki on his return from a mission and to keep a long story short it was quite the meeting. The two had a long history together and seeing her after all that time led to the current funk the Hozuki had been going through. He had promised the woman that he wouldn't speak of their encounter to anyone, and she in return promised that they would meet again. His mind continued to race with all the thoughts concerning Natsuki and it had taken away from his time to gawk at Iku, and she had definitely noticed, namely in the sense that Kuro had been avoiding her. He couldn't take the chance of letting that information slip and getting both himself and Natsuki in trouble. Oddly enough the boy was walking through that market district to avoid running into the girl as he had a fear that she would find out where he lived and come knocking. Either that or Kuro would have run into her hanging out with Izugetsu which would have pissed off the boy to unimaginable limits. No matter, a few hours out here and then back to the house would surely be enough to save his hide for at least one more day.

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[Yasui Iku]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true] i remember the words he said when you dream you hit bottom chances are good you're gonna wake up dead tags: kuro notes: ~o~ words: 417 credit: akemi of btn Iku slammed the door of the house in her mother's face, muttering obscenities under her breath. She had been upstairs moping in the bedroom she shared with her twin sister, curled up in a mountain of blankets and trying to ignore the world, when her mother came and bothered her. Told her to get off her lazy butt and go do the grocery shopping.. Pfft. Bitch needed to go do it her damn self. Iku only went grocery shopping when she was getting paid for it. Knowing her mother, she'd come home with all the groceries and just get some sort of vague response and then the woman would forget that she existed, just like always. Iku was beyond being pissed off, though. She didn't think she had anywhere to put anger right now. She was too upset about one of her Hoozuki boys avoiding her. It seemed like he had totally lost interest in her. She'd seen him maybe once in the past week, and he'd been kind of dismissive. He didn't want to spend time with her or anything, and she wanted to know why, but he wouldn't tell her. So, of course, she assumed there was something wrong with her - that she wasn't pretty enough or interesting enough or strong enough for him, and it honestly kind of made her want to cry. It had actually upset her so much that she hadn't done anything to her hair but brush it for the past three days, so compared to what it usually looked like, it was a total mess. She crumpled the stupid grocery list and contemplated just tossing it somewhere and wandering off to wallow in her sorrow. Except then her mother would remember that she had daughters long enough to scream at her, and Iku would end up screaming back, and Kazue would then scream at both of them, and that was just a stupid, stupid situation. So she reluctantly trudged on through the streets to the market district, eyes trained on the ground, not bothering with anyone or anything. Usually, she'd stop and chat with her favorite fruit vendor, or tackle someone she knew in the middle of the street and have a lively conversation, but not today. No, Iku didn't look up until she ran right into someone and nearly knocked them over. "Sorry... didn't see you there." she murmured, then looked up, and to her surprise... "Kuro?"

[katas]

[atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,435,true][atrb=vAlign,top] ❝ YOU'RE SOMETHING DEADLY THAT I JUST CAN'T PUT MY FINGER ON. ❞ WORDS 453 TAGS characters NOTES write anything you want here!

[atrb=vAlign,top] Vegetables and fruit as far as the eye could see, and they all look so delicious and expensive. While it was no secret that Kuro had a sweet tooth he indulged in his fair share of healthy eating as one couldn't maintain such a lean figure by eating poorly. He was by no means a master chef or anything close to it, but knew enough to make something that tasted decent should the need arise. Maybe one day he would cook for Iku once all this mess with Natsuki blew over, but right now being around her was the last thing he wanted to do. It wasn't because the Hozuki had grown tired of the girl, quite the opposite in fact, but more so because the chances of letting information slip was higher when they were together. She was one of the few aside from family that the boy actually opened to. Sure, he could let off pieces here and there to pick up women, but nothing that actually mattered to him. Iku was a different breed indeed, but there was only so much she could probably take before going off to find someone else. That was the last thing he wanted to happen, and as such the boy needed to find a balance between showing Iku attention and not accidentally divulging any secrets during their time together, which got fairly excited the longer they were around each other. His mind was torn between a delicious looking cabbage and Iku when the force of something, or someone, nearly knocked the boy off his feet though he had somehow managed to keep his balance. Some people just couldn't be bothered to look where they were going so early in the morning. Dark hues titled down to see the person who had caused this little accident and instantly they widened. Though disheveled, that white hair was unmistakeable. How the hell did she find him out here of all places? By the time Kuro had the bright idea of leaving the two had already met eyes and it was far too late for such antics. "Hey..." He replied sheepishly, not really wanting to go through this so early in the morning. The Hozuki offered a hand to the girl to assist her getting up from the ground and contemplated how he was going to get out of this situation. A few more days and everything would have been cool, but no, they just had to meet in the middle of the village at random. He needed more time to think. "So... what brings you out here?" He asked, hoping that Iku's answer wouldn't be around the area of looking for him.

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[Yasui Iku]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true] i remember the words he said when you dream you hit bottom chances are good you're gonna wake up dead tags: kuro notes: ~o~ words: 330 credit: akemi of btn For a long moment, Iku just sat there on the ground and stared at him. She certainly hadn't expected to run into him here - and, to be honest? She had kind of been hoping that he wouldn't turn up. But especially not here, and not now. The girl didn't want to end up bawling in public, for fuck's sake, she had an image and that would totally ruin it. Then she took the proffered hand and rose to her feet, but she didn't look up into his eyes again. "Fancy meeting you here." she murmured, and held up her shopping list. "Deadbeat mother decided to pay attention to me long enough to tell me to go grocery shopping.. so here I am, I guess." She didn't ask him what he was doing there, or where he had been these past however many days, or why she wasn't important to him anymore, even though she wanted to. Iku often made scenes in public - but not the kind of tumultuously emotional scene that was sure to to occur with Kuro. Honestly, now that she actually had him here, in front of her, Iku didn't know what to do. This wasn't something she had dealt with before. She had always been the one to leave guys hanging, to dump them out of the blue when she got bored even though they thought everything was going great, and it wasn't a good feeling to be on the flip side of that coin. "I... I've got to go." she mumbled, taking a few steps back. "I.. guess I'll see you some other time." Then she took off, going back in the direction from whence she'd came. It was so unlike her to run away from her problems, but this was a whole different thing, and to be honest? Iku was a little afraid of what would happen when they did finally talk.

[katas]

[atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,435,true][atrb=vAlign,top] ❝ YOU'RE SOMETHING DEADLY THAT I JUST CAN'T PUT MY FINGER ON. ❞ WORDS 326 TAGS characters NOTES write anything you want here!

[atrb=vAlign,top] Ah, shopping of course, why else would people be up so early in the middle of the marketplace? It made perfect sense, but this wasn't the most normal of situations. At least she wasn't stalking the boy, so that was a relief. Then again, given how disheveled her hair was this certainly didn't look like the Iku that he had known. Granted, Kuro probably had something to do with that but he wouldn't admit to it. Honestly it could have been the other way around since Kuro wasn't the one out here shopping, which could have seemed odd. Before he could even think about uttering a response the girl had turned face and ran away. Well, this was awkward and the few people who were out and about were staring at the only figure left: Kuro. Nice and awkward, just how the boy wanted this day to be. There were a few options at this point, either he could have continued going about his day and receive glares from all these strangers or do the right thing and go after Iku. He owed her an explanation, to a degree though he felt that if he couldn't tell the entire truth then what would be the point? Still, being the cause of someone's torment could have brought about unwanted consequences. Having a conscience sucked sometimes. With a sigh the boy set off after the girl, not running like she had done, but with a bit of pep in his step nonetheless. Luckily there were few people walking about and Iku's route wasn't the most sophisticated which made it easy to see where she was heading, and spotting that all white dress helped too. Hopefully she would stop soon before the Hozuki had to start yelling to get her to slow down as that would only draw more attention to them, and that was the last thing he wanted.

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[Yasui Iku]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true] i remember the words he said when you dream you hit bottom chances are good you're gonna wake up dead tags: kuro notes: ~o~ words: 319 credit: akemi of btn She felt bad for just taking off like that, leaving him standing there - probably with people glaring at him because it kind of made him seem like a douche - but she didn't know what else to do. And regardless of how either of them felt, the market district was not the place to stand there and talk about it. It would've made a huge scene and Iku would have wanted to crawl into a hole and die if that happened. She didn't think that Kuro was going to follow her, so once she'd gotten out of the immediate area, her pace had slowed greatly - partially due to indecision. Where was she going to go? The girl couldn't exactly return home without the groceries. She didn't really have any friends that she could pop in on for a surprise visit. What to do? Making a decision on the best place to go to avoid the boy wasn't easy, and so she just kept on going in a straight line. But then she glanced back, and of course, the Hoozuki has to go and defy her expectations and run after her. So she came to a halt in the middle of the road and turned to face him. She still didn't have the slightest idea of what to say to him, so she just stood there and waited for him to take the initiative. Iku was beginning to think that maybe boys weren't worth the trouble they caused - these kinds of boys, anyway. Kuro got so pissed off if she so much as glanced at another hot guy, and then turned around and flirted with every girl in sight. His clanmate Sherbet Head was a lot nicer, but he was her teammate - his dad was their sensei and Iku figured that he probably wouldn't approve. Boys. Men. Hmmph. Damn them all.

[katas]

[atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,435,true][atrb=vAlign,top] ❝ YOU'RE SOMETHING DEADLY THAT I JUST CAN'T PUT MY FINGER ON. ❞ WORDS 316 TAGS characters NOTES write anything you want here!

[atrb=vAlign,top] Either Iku had tired herself out or finally succumbed to reason but either way she finally stopped moving and seemed to be waiting on Kuro to catch up to her. A bit unexpected but the boy was glad that she had stopped running because he wasn't about to chase her through the entire village. Another few minutes tops then the Hozuki would have returned home and not really cared what happened either way. Yeah it was an asshole move but nobody told Iku to start a scene and take off running in the middle of the village in the first place. To be honest, the Genin hadn't really thought up anything to say, he had just moved out of instinct, but if he arrived and hadn't said a word then the flood gates surely would have opened up and unleashed the wrath of Iku. He figured to start small and just work his way up from there, open up a couple new routes and just converse like they used to. Granted, the topic of conversation would be different and Kuro would have to do most of the talking, something that he wasn't all that used to. A few smooth words here and there usually did the trick when it came to wooing women, and he feigned listening to them when they blabbed on and on about everything under the sun. The distance between them had closed considerably, Kuro now standing roughly six feet away from the girl. His face was calm and not really telling of his true feelings. "If you promise not to run, I promise to explain why I've been acting so... odd, as of late." It was a lie. He couldn't take the chance of spilling information on Natsuki but if he could make up a half truth then that would hopefully alleviate some of the tension.

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[Yasui Iku]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true] i remember the words he said when you dream you hit bottom chances are good you're gonna wake up dead tags: kuro notes: ~o~ words: 308 credit: akemi of btn She shouldn't have stopped, she thought as Kuro approached. She should have kept on running and never looked back and maybe, just maybe, she could have gotten over the suave Hoozuki with the help of tears and copious amounts of ice cream. And possibly Sherbet Head. Yes, there would definitely be a Sherbet Head in a future where Kuro wasn't present. But she couldn't just run away forever, could she? As much as she hated to admit it, her sister wouldn't ever be such a coward, especially not about a boy. If she was interested in boys, that is. If Kazue ever found out about this, oh god, Iku would never hear the end of it. And that was enough to make all thoughts of deserting Kuro again flee from her mind. She wasn't going to hand Kazue an opportunity to make fun of her on a silver platter. Nope. Not today, and not any day. "You're really going to tell me?" Iku asked, taking a few steps towards the boy, eyes guarded. "You're not going to make up some stupid excuse?" Because if this was really a problem with him not liking her anymore, and he tried to say it was something else, she was going to punch him. Repeatedly. "Don't lie to me, Kuro." Even though he hadn't told her anything yet, so she didn't know whether she was going to be angry at him or not, Iku sought comfort in his arms. The hug was actually rather gentle, compared to all the times she'd tackled him to the ground in search of affection. "If... if it's something I did, then I'm sorry." she murmured, clinging to him like he would disappear if she let go, and for all she knew, he would.

[katas]

[atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,435,true][atrb=vAlign,top] ❝ YOU'RE SOMETHING DEADLY THAT I JUST CAN'T PUT MY FINGER ON. ❞ WORDS 330 TAGS characters NOTES write anything you want here!

[atrb=vAlign,top] "As much as I can..." He replied, probably a mistake for multiple reasons. First it made it seem like Kuro was indeed hiding something, which technically he was, and also because that was the least reassuring answer he could have uttered. It was the truth, however, as this was difficult enough for one person to hold such a secret let alone a completely unrelated party. Sure the boy trusted Iku, but this was a matter of life or death. Also considering the girls home conditions something such as this would only add onto her already heightened level of stress. The Hozuki had met the butch-like sister and could only imagine how bad her mother was. Kuro sighed when Iku came in for a hug, she was making this much more difficult than it needed to be. He honestly enjoyed the near tackling he got from Iku on a somewhat regular basis and this more gentle substitute felt weird. Nevertheless, Kuro would return the embrace. "It's not you, trust me. I just couldn't afford to get you mixed up in all of this." He began, attempting to figure out how to balance the line between telling the truth but not necessarily all of it. "I ran into an old friend not too long ago, someone I hadn't seen in a few years. We shared a lot of memories so it's just taking some time to get used to seeing them again, is all." Of course that wasn't all of it, but it was technically the truth. Iku would probably probe for details of who this friend was and why they meant so much to Kuro to the point of him ignoring her, and if she chose to do so then the boy would have no choice but to make something up. He had come this far and would not drop the ball so close to his meeting with Natsuki. There was no room for error.

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[Yasui Iku]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true] i remember the words he said when you dream you hit bottom chances are good you're gonna wake up dead tags: kuro notes: ~o~ words: 331 credit: akemi of btn Iku's eyes narrowed but she didn't question what he said. That did make it seem like he had something to hide, but surely, if it was something really important, he would tell her. Right? He would, wouldn't he? Or maybe it was because something important had happened that he had anything to hide at all. It could be either - but no matter which it was, it still made the girl unhappy. But... She cut off that train of thought - if she let it run its course, she would really end up questioning everything the Hoozuki said and probably only succeeding in getting herself pissed off - and him too. And she did not need that. The familiar press of her body against his, his arms wrapped around her, was almost more comforting than the fact that he was going to explain the whole situation. Iku felt like she could have stayed like that forever, head resting against his chest, just taking comfort from his presence. "Is.. is it really something serious enough that it isn't safe for you to tell me?" Now she felt really bad for hounding him like she had been. Maybe he wanted to tell her, but he was risking getting into a bad situation if he did. That was understandable, she supposed, though she couldn't think how Kuro would get mixed up in something like that. "An... old friend?" That was it, really? An old friend. Who would that person be, that Kuro would completely ignore the girl he was kind of in a relationship with because he saw him or her? Her tone turned accusatory. "Who is she? Why is she so important?" Of course, Iku didn't know what gender the friend was - but since he had been avoiding her, of course it was a girl. You didn't ignore your kind of girlfriend for some guy friend you hadn't seen in years. "...why won't you just tell me?"

[katas]

[atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,435,true][atrb=vAlign,top] ❝ YOU'RE SOMETHING DEADLY THAT I JUST CAN'T PUT MY FINGER ON. ❞ WORDS 502 TAGS characters NOTES write anything you want here!

[atrb=vAlign,top] The initial explanation, while vague, seemed to sit well with Iku, or at the very least not piss her off. That was what Kuro wanted to avoid. The stress from Natsuki added onto Iku being upset and throwing a fit probably would have made the boy do something irrational and derailed the entire plan. However it seemed that would not be the case, at least for the moment. He relished the contact, it had been some time since the two had just been able to be around each other let alone hug it out in the middle of the village. Granted, most of their hugging incorporated other things but this would not be one of those times. "Yes, without giving away too much. Just know that it is very important to me." He replied, again attempting to be both truthful and at the same time avoiding giving away too much information. Kuro hoped that this wouldn't be the opening to the floodgate of questions because having to come up with a bunch of lies in quick succession was not going to be fun, or easy. Of course he knew that Iku wouldn't just blindly accept his words without probing a bit as she had always been the one to ask question upon question whenever they were together, but that was a different atmosphere and the Hozuki was much more willing to answer those inquiries. The tone in Iku's voice worried the boy for a moment as it was literally the calm before the storm. Then came the exact questions that he did not want to hear, because he could not answer them, truthfully anyway. If Kuro gave a name then Iku would probably go asking other people about them and then the shit would really hit the fan. He couldn't even say that Natsuki was part of his clan, and there was no point in even trying to lie about the gender because Iku had already set her mind on this mystery person being a female. This was turning out to be much more trouble than it was worth and for a brief moment Kuro wished that he would have just let Iku keep running. "I just can't. Lives depend on it. I'm not cheating if that's what's running through your head." Kuro replied, a bit confused as to why he mentioned the last part. They weren't technically a couple so why did he need to reassure Iku of such a thing? Weird. "All I ask is that you bear with me for a little while longer, please?" He added, attempting to find some kind of middle ground for them to work on. He had answered her questions, somewhat, and just wanted a bit more time to smooth things over with Natsuki. Their next meeting would be amazingly informative and anything that happened after that point would not have nearly the affect on Kuro's psyche that this was. He just needed time.

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[Yasui Iku]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true] i remember the words he said when you dream you hit bottom chances are good you're gonna wake up dead tags: kuro notes: ~o~ words: 300 credit: akemi of btn "Alright. I trust you, Kuro." At least for the moment, anyway. She would trust him until she found out that he was lying - if he was. Then, hesitantly, she added, "And... you know you can trust me, right?" Iku was a lot of things - vain, shallow, boy-crazy, and a host of other things, most of which were considered unpleasant - but she wasn't a liar or a deceiver. If someone told her a secret, it stayed a secret. She had at least some measure of integrity. Er, well, most of the time, anyway. "Okay, I believe you. I'll stop prying now." Iku assured him. She could be really nosy, and tended to pry into people's personal business even if she didn't know them very well. A lot of it stemmed from her near-insatiable curiosity. But she was capable of respecting people's privacy, especially if it was someone she really cared about - like Kuro. She didn't want to piss him off and screw up whatever their relationship was. "So... do you want to go do something? You've got a lot of wasted time to make up for, Kuro-kun~" Now that that matter was settled, Iku was beginning to get some of her usual energy back. And of course she wanted to spend time with the Hoozuki boy; that was the whole reason she had been so upset - because she hadn't been able to spend time with him. And it was his fault, too, so in her mind, he owed her. Maybe a nice dinner date and then a shopping trip in which he would buy her something pretty? He probably didn't have much of a budget for that kind of thing, but hey, he would get points for the effort.

[katas]

[atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,435,true][atrb=vAlign,top] ❝ YOU'RE SOMETHING DEADLY THAT I JUST CAN'T PUT MY FINGER ON. ❞ WORDS 318 TAGS characters NOTES write anything you want here!

[atrb=vAlign,top] Hearing those words from Iku was a bit of relief, though he knew deep down that it wasn't a complete trust. No way in hell she was going to turn face so easily after all this time. Granted, he had earned that mindset but was assured that the girl wouldn't be hounding him with any more questions... at least for the time being. While he wanted to say yes, or maybe no, Kuro could trust no one but himself for right now. But he needed to reassure Iku, at least to some degree to help things return to normal. "Yeah, totally." A lie, but said in a tone that would hopefully alleviate some of the pressure that Iku was putting on him. Again Iku assured Kuro of her belief, and once more the boy remained skeptical. He was glad to hear it, well more specifically glad to hear that she would stop prying. Though that probably only meant that she was going to stop prying for a while, eventually she would get curious again and start asking questions. "Thanks, it means a lot." This part was true, though there was a thinly veiled hint of skepticism in his voice. Most people wouldn't let something such as being avoided blow over so quickly, and if Kuro knew anything about Iku she was no different. So Iku wanted to milk Kuro out of all the guilt she could, that was the girl he knew. She had every right to do so as the Hozuki had been a jack ass for all intents and purposes, so treating her to pretty much whatever she wanted was the least he could do. Besides, it would do wonders in taking the boys mind off of all this Natsuki foolishness. "Yeah sure. All that running probably made you hungry, no?" He asked in a joking tone, attempting to rapidly lighten the mood.

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[Yasui Iku]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true] i remember the words he said when you dream you hit bottom chances are good you're gonna wake up dead tags: kuro notes: ~o~ words: 314 credit: akemi of btn She could hear the skepticism in his tone, and frowned. Of course he didn't believe her. "I'm serious, Kuro. I don't like it, but I can respect your privacy." Iku told him seriously, tilting her head up to look him right in the eye. "I know you have a pretty good reason not to believe me.. I can be kind of nosy sometimes. Er, most of the time, really. But I'm not going to end up pushing you away because I can't keep my mouth shut." She was a little upset that he didn't believe her completely, but she supposed she couldn't blame him. After all, she had never shown him that she knew how to respect his personal space or anything like that. Iku made a valiant attempt to laugh at Kuro's little joke, even though it wasn't that funny, because at least he was trying to lighten the mood. "Food sounds good." she agreed. "I hope you don't run out money before you get the chance to buy me something pretty~ Preferably shiny as well, hehe." She grabbed his hand and pretty much started dragging him in the direction of her favorite restaurant, which was pretty fancy, and not exactly cheap - and totally perfect for a date, especially because he had a lot to make up to her. She was going to clean out his wallet today, that was for certain. Not only was she planning on ordering all of her favorite foods at the restaurant, but he was going to buy her some pretty jewelry and a dress to go with it, if he had any money left by the time they got to that point. Perhaps it was a little mean of her to take out her frustrations on his wallet, but hey, she had seen worse ways of coping.

[katas]

[atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,435,true][atrb=vAlign,top] ❝ YOU'RE SOMETHING DEADLY THAT I JUST CAN'T PUT MY FINGER ON. ❞ WORDS 384 TAGS characters NOTES write anything you want here!

[atrb=vAlign,top] Kuro matched the gaze Iku had given him, the look on her face as sincere as her words. Perhaps she was telling the truth, or rather just really wanted to appease her conscience and would say some sappy things to make him believe her. Either way the boy was not going to tell her more about the situation with Natsuki, and would have to be more careful in looking for signs that Iku was trying to steer the conversation towards finding out more information. He had faith that the girl would keep her word, but a little paranoia never hurt anybody. He wasn't exactly sure how to respond in a tone that wouldn't make him sound questioning, though that would be next to impossible at this point so it was better to remain silent. He grinned a bit at Iku's reply but could hear his wallet screaming at him for opening the door to such a thing. The food alone would probably cost a pretty penny as the girl was more than likely going to pick the most expensive restaurant in the entire village, to which Kuro should have seen coming before hand, but it was too late to take the offer back now. Then to make matters worse Iku wanted him to buy something for her as well, probably jewelry. Amazing how a girl could go from upset and running away to ready to spend all of someone else's money so quickly. The Hozuki would definitely have to start picking up some more missions after all this was said and done. "Sounds fun." He replied, trying to sound happy but the thought of having an empty wallet at the end of the day was none too appealing. There was little he could do at this point and the vice grip Iku had on him might as well have been a pair of hand cuffs. He could only wonder what place she was dragging him to first, though hopefully it was somewhere to eat because having to play make up had made Kuro hungry. Perhaps the Hozuki should have offered to buy her groceries instead as that would have been much cheaper, though that wouldn't have done the trick to get him back in her good graces he assumed.

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