Healing under the Moon's Gaze

Once back in the bedroom Ei would take a seat down on her bed, crossing one leg over the other. She would stare at Azuma somewhat expectantly, watching him as he came in. How he walked in with the resignation of a punished child was something that pleased her, along with the redness of his face. It was clear that she had reasserted control over the situation, seizing it back from Azuma. She wasn’t just done with him yet though. This was going to be the equivalent of a parent forcing a child to smoke an entire box of cigarettes after being caught smoking one. She was going to rub it in until her point was burnt into his mind.

“Well?” She would huff, clearly annoyed. “You seemed so insistent on peeking before, even when I told you there would be consequences. Now you won’t even look at me. What’s wrong? Have you changed your mind now? Is my body not worth peeping at anymore?” She would tsk now, still glaring down at him. “Look at me, Azuma. Get your fill now, while you still have the chance. As far as you know this could be the last time you have this opportunity, before I pluck your eyes out.” She would wait for his response, seeing just exactly how he would squirm. Ei wasn’t going to let this end easily for him, unfortunately for Azuma. Although, she would be lying now if she said she wasn't enjoying herself.

The man stood with his eyes averted to the side as his ears burned, the annoyance in Ei's voice was like a knife to his heart sometimes. He'd heard that tone many a time before, being a bit of a goofball when they was younger surely earned him some scoldings from Ei, and now it was almost as if they was right back to being teens again. But part of what she said would draw his attention back to her, 'Is my body not worth peeping at anymore?'. She didn't even get to the 'look at me' before his eyes shifted to her again, looking to her's as she spoke. He had in mind to tell her she was wrong there, but hadn't the chance to for now.

Even while she scolded him...her threat to pluck out his eyes, it'd draw a tiny smirk to come to his lips. "...Thats fine then...If the last thing my eyes get to see is a woman of such beauty before she rips 'em out, then I can live my life as a happy blind man." he'd respond, voice smoother then his flustered mess seconds before. Likely not what she expected as he kept looking at her...eyes focused on her's and failing to wander about her body. Even if he had desires, and clearly did wish for a feast for his eyes, he kept focus to her eyes for now.

She would smile now. There was the charming Azuma she knew and loved. The hostility would evaporate from her, and she would almost let out a small laugh. A slight flush would return to her face now as he returned to looking at her again. “Good boy. You’ve redeemed yourself. I’ll forgive your peeping just this once. You have permission for now.” It didn’t exactly turn out as she planned, but at the same time this was a result that she was fine with as well. Even if it did result in her being a bit flustered, she was getting what she wanted out of it. While maybe a bit of an extreme escalation from what was just a traditional romantic situation up on the roof with her first kiss, this was almost a form of revenge for her. If he was going to act all charming and make her heart flutter like it had earlier Ei felt the need to return the favor, and the way things were turning out this just seemed like the best way to do it.

“Alright now.” She would gesture to her closet and dresser. “Don’t dawdle. You’re not just here for your own entertainment. You’ll have to pick out something for me to wear that I approve of.” He was given free permission to fish around in her drawers and closet, and the fact that she was doing this was a sign more than anything that she was still incredibly drunk, beyond any doubt in the world. At the same time, Ei was curious as to what his tastes would be. It was one thing to dress up herself and then ask Azuma what he thought, but forcing the poor boy to select and outfit entirely from scratch was another. It would force him to give a more honest opinion.

Maybe his words had impressed her, or maybe it was something else--either way he'd notice her lips curl into a smile, shifting her features from annoyance to nearly giggling at his response. The Desert Rogue may not have been perfect, but even when embarrassed and in a tough spot being scolded by her, he could still pull out the charm. It'd seemed he'd cooled her fires...maybe starting others. He'd find her gesturing to her wardrobe, suggesting he pick her something to wear. He blinked.

"I mean...whats wrong with what you're wearing now? So stunning, you would have all eyes on you." he'd kid about her current lack of clothes, even if he did genuinly mean the 'So stunning' part. He'd shift, stepping over to her closet...was a bit awkward for him but he'd rustle around a bit with what was there, before something caught his eye. "Oh...I don't believe I've ever seen you in this..." he'd say, pulling out a Kimono that may have been a good few inches to short, all the while suggesting a low neckline. If she was to wear such a thing without any pants on surely she'd be giving at least a half moon, while not leaving much to the imagination for her bust--no way this one was able to close up enough unless she bound herself before wearing it. It could be made to be covering...but alone would be very revealing.

He'd set it aside, and look more...mostly it was Kimono's of different styles and designs, and the stray 'painters outfit' covered in paint and clearly not meant for public eyes. He'd probably end up finding some underwear if he kept looking long enough...the man grabbed something he thought she would look good in, something classy...and then something she'd be comfy in, easily a decent pick for sleepwear, stepping back towards her holding the outfits. He looked like he felt awkward, it was hard to hide it...maybe she was still punishing him afterall, disguised as some outfit roulette fun behind bedroom doors. He'd take a seat next to her on the bed, looking over to the woman...trying to hide his blush, considering her current state. He was still feeling somewhat drunk, granted being energized by the Lightning earlier may had jolted a little bit of the drunkenness out of him. Still.

She started laughing as he pulled out the outfit that he did. She started laughing as he pulled out the outfit that he did. “Oh, I forgot I even had something like that in there. I haven’t worn that in…” She couldn’t even remember. It was something she had bought entirely on a whim. It was something that was supposed to be worn with a bottom of some sorts, but Ei understood what Azuma was implying here. When he set it aside she would stand from her sitting position on the bed, and making her way over to the short kimono that he had set aside. She would slip it on, wrapping it around and doing her best to tighten it to where it at least wouldn’t fall off of her. Azuma’s assumption was right though. A good deal of her tush was left exposed by how high the kimono was cut off, and it was clear that the outfit wasn’t made for someone with a chest as large as Ei’s. A great deal of cleavage was shown, and it didn’t seem like it would be possible to tighten the outfit enough to hide it without either binding her chest or making it uncomfortably tight. Even though the outfit was revealing it was still comfortable against her skin, made of the same silk that the majority of her other kimonos were. It wasn’t too tight. Notably, she had never gone to the trouble of putting on any undergarments before slipping it on.

“How do I look?” Standing now, Ei would do a slow twirl as to show off every angle of herself in the outfit to Azuma. It was clear that she was having fun with this, at least more than the awkward and nervous Azuma was. It was sort of just like trying on different outfits at a store, except sexier. She would let out a small sigh at the comfort as compared to the cotton kimono she had been wearing earlier, especially as it had gotten soaked by the rain. She would take a moment to adjust her chest a bit within the dress, fixing at the edges of the fabric.

”I’m so used to binding my chest out on missions…” She would purse her lips as she looked down at her own chest now. ”You really don’t know how uncomfortable it is to do that… Sometimes I wish I was a bit smaller.” It was just a casual thought of hers that slipped out into the open, being said without really thinking. There was a bit of soreness evident as she did readjust the fabric around her chest to emphasize what she was saying as the truth. It was one of those things that boys like Azuma would probably never understand though. Chest binding was so prevalent among kunoichi just out of a necessity, despite how uncomfortable it was and how it usually resulted in this sort of soreness or bruises or worse. She had half a mind to just stop doing it all together. It was half the reason why she didn’t bother to put on any undergarments- She wasn’t going to put on a bra in the comfort of her own apartment if she didn’t have to.  

Azuma had sat at the edge of the woman's bed and looked over in time to see her slipping on the revealing, but ultimately comfortable outfit he'd found first. He simply remained quiet, watching her, until she would ask him how she looked, giving a twirl to show off every angle and perspective. Azuma was still blushing, but smiled through it, answering her with a soft tone--a simple word. "Beautiful..."

The woman went on to mention her binding herself up for missions, him noticing her glance down to her chest before continuing her casual thought let loose. 'Well that explains why I never really...noticed before.' crossed Azuma's mind, noting he hadn't ever really realized just how busty she was until well...seeing it for himself tonight. But she was right, he didn't understand that pain. Sure, he always had his lower torso and shins wrapped in bandages, but they simply covered the skin, they didn't restrain anything tightly and was overall comfortable for him.

He stood back up from the bed, if only a bit, to take both her hands within his own. He'd lean back to sit once more on the bed, but gently pulled her closer to stand in front of him. With him sitting and her standing, she was just a bit taller then him, The Desert Rogue smiling up at her. "You're right, I don't understand how that feels. But I'm...I'm glad your comfortable enough to let loose and be yourself around me..." he'd say as he continued to smile, looking up at her. "And besides...I ah..."--He was getting a little more flustered--"I...don't mind seeing you like this...I...I hope maybe to....I-I mean, I hope...you'll continue to be this comfortable around me." he'd say, his confidence being pushed aside by embarrassment and forcing him to stumble over his words. But blushing and all, he kept focus on her.

A small smile would creep into Ei’s face as Azuma spoke. It felt nice to hear him say that, even if she knew in the back of her mind he was probably thinking more with his lower half right now. That didn’t bother her as much as it probably should have. She did feel oddly comfortable around Azuma. Of course, she always had been. She was the type to let Azuma into her home without him needing to ask, with the male allowed to make himself at home and rummage around in her fridge if he wanted. The offer had always been open to him to sleep on her couch if he needed to. He was probably her best friend, and had been for years now. She really did care about him, like she had been trying to get out earlier. It was just she had never been comfortable like this before, so quick to share these sort of lewd moments and undress and be nude in front of him. It was strange to think about. What was making her do this now? Was it the alcohol? Or really, what had been stopping her before? It wasn’t as if she was easily flustered around the nudity of other people. As she had thought of earlier, she was pretty well associated with doing nude paintings, even if she never had modeled for something like that herself. Was it different because it was her own body? Or was it different because it was Azuma, and he was a male? Her thoughts would wonder. Ei didn’t have an answer. She couldn’t always explain why she felt the way she did.

He would seize the moment again, taking her hands in his own. Sitting back down, they would be nearly eye level for what felt like the first time. Azuma was so incredibly tall, and Ei was a bit shorter than average for a woman. It was new, for her to be able to look him straight in the eyes like this, or even for her to be able to look down at him in more than a metaphorical sense. She would be enraptured by it for a moment, although what Azuma began saying would snap her out of it. His were were… They were adorable. She couldn’t help but smile. It was true. She was being more affectionate and open with him tonight than she had been during the rest of the time they had known each other combined. It was the result of a lot of pent up motions and frustrations all coming to burst together with alcohol. Things would definitely be different for them in the morning when they both had the time to sober up and think, but it was impossible to say in what way. It was scary, almost. But still, while she still had the confidence and lacked the restraints to this, she wanted to enjoy herself as much as she could.

She would press forward, allowing herself to lean against him, and then gently forcing him down onto the bed. Ei would rest on top of him, her face in his chest, and she would let out a small sigh. “If you keep on behaving like you have tonight, well…” She would trail off. Even if she wanted to say yes, it wasn’t as if she could. She was difficult about things like this. Things had to happen in a certain way and certain order for her to be satisfied, even if it made things difficult. It was just the odd way that she thought.

It'd seem his response to how she looked painted a smile on the artists face...he was enjoying seeing her smile, she didn't do it enough. She often kept a look of disinterest, or even annoyance. Seeing her smile was...well, magical. After he'd taken her hands in his once more and sat back down, he once more earned a smile from her, and she didn't really respond to his words. Not verbally anyways.

He felt her lean against him, and even push him back onto the bed, the woman resting ontop of him. Naturally his arms curled around her, hands rested softly on her back. Azuma shut his eyes as her words crossed his ears. She didn't really finish what she was saying, trailing off at the end...but that was okay. Azuma was just happy in this moment. His arms around her very slightly tightened, a brief embrace before they went loose again, simply resting around her.

With her head rested on his chest, she could hear his heart beat. It was much more calm then before, when they kissed atop the roof...but still had a little jog to its pace, the fact she rested on top of him in bed raising his heart rate...but the peacefulness of it was calming. The man remained quiet...he didn't want this to end...her warmth was soothing, and the closeness between them never before reached was...well, something the warrior needed. The life of a Shinobi was a lonely one...and for once, he didn't feel alone. He had her...even if only for the moment. Maybe as time went on, he could continue to hold her like he did tonight. The thought brought a large smile to his face. Almost naturally without any thought one arm momentarily left from around her to snag her blanket and pull it over the top of both of them, hand returning to her back, holding her once more afterwords. If they remained like this for long enough, he'd likely fall asleep.

They would lay together like this for a while, saying nothing. Nothing needed to be said. They were both happy together like this. Usually Ei was the type to sleep under a variety of thick blankets, making her bed something like a dutch oven with how hot her body was. If Azuma slept with her like that he likely would have been steamed like a bunch of vegetables by the time morning came, but thankfully it ended up like this, with her just resting on top of his chest without any blankets involved. He was cool to the touch from her perspective, but with her consistent body heat and skin to skin contact it wouldn’t be unlikely that Azuma would still be somewhat sweaty by the time morning came.

She had drifted off to sleep, naturally. It would be hard not to when cuddling like this, and it wouldn’t be long until Azuma would find a dozed off Ei resting against his chest. Ei was the type to not always get enough sleep with how dedicated she typically was to her craft, and as a result it made her an especially heavy sleepy when she did get rest, with the habit of sleeping longer than she likely should have as her body attempted to make up for missed time. Azuma would undoubtedly wake before her, finding the still sleeping woman against his chest. The first lights of the morning would begin to stream in through the window of her apartment, and the first chirps of singing birds would begin to be able to be heard in the distance.

Ei was like a natural heater, she kept him so warm he honestly wouldn't have needed a blanket to remain comfy throughout the night. Maybe covering them up was a bit much. They remained quietly snuggled together like this for a while, and Azuma's ears burned with the sound of light snores. An eye peered open and looked down, seeing that Ei had fallen asleep...she looked very cute when she slept, it drew another smile on his face. Azuma shut his eyes and with a small yawn, he too would end up loosing his battle with the sandman, and fall asleep. The two seemed peaceful in their sleep...to bad their morning wouldn't be as warm and cuddly.

Hours went by, at some point the blanket Azuma had pulled over them ended up kicked off--probably by the man attempting to not burn to death under a blanket and her. One of Azuma's hand still rested in the lower arch of Ei's back, softly holding her to him...but in his sleep his other hand had shifted, migrated, and now was somewhere else. The sun's light peered through the bedroom window, and just caught the edge of Azuma's eyes. He grunted a little quietly, stirring awake. Slowly a single eye, his amber eye, would open, if only slightly. He first looked around the room...it took him a few seconds to even figure out where he was, finally recognizing it as Ei's bedroom.

He was very groggy, and maybe even a bit hung over...the man felt warmth against him, and especially within his right hand--the one that had its arm wrapped in bandages to cover his burns. 'What...is so warm' crossed his hung over mind, his hand even giving a soft squeeze. It was round, a bit plump, and fleshy. His single amber hue shifted to look down, half lidded still, and see Ei. His eye opened a little more, widening, if only a moment, before vague ideas of the night prior started coming to him. As for his hand...well...Azuma didn't realize it yet, but it'd slid just a bit under her Kimono during his sleep, and had a hand full of her rear end...full palm of ass cheek.

A slight squeezing sensation would slowly rouse the woman from her sleep. It would start with a slight hitch in her breath from the physical contact, only to progress into a slight shivering that ran through her entire body. It was cold against her skin, and she was nearly getting goosebumps from it. In general she felt cold, as if she was lacking warmth. In her dreams she vaguely recalled floating around in an infinite expanse of ocean, with the chill waters around her sapping out her heat and breath. No matter which way she swam it didn’t seem like she was any closer to the surface, with the heat and light of the sun always being outside her grasp.

Ei’s eyes would flutter open. The sun peering in through her window would shine in on where her face rested, and while the warmth was pleasant the light in her eyes was not. She would shift slightly, groggily muttering some nonsense complaints about the light that were barely audible as her brain began to turn back on. She would bury her face and eyes back down into her pillow, or what she assumed was her pillow. It was harder than normal, for some reason. Not as soft as she was used to. Cold.

Looking up from it she would slowly shift awake, seeing only blurs of color and shifting light. Slowly those blurry images would focus. Her eyes would come across a picture of her bedroom, which was normal and to be expected, and then Azuma. What she saw wasn’t immediately processed by her brain, and the tired woman would continue to flutter her eyes in her half asleep state, head resting on Azuma’s chest.

Her eyes would shoot open, going as wide as they could. The transition from half-asleep to wide-awake would come instantly as soon as her brain began processing what she saw. She stared directly at Azuma, silent and pale. The rest of her sensory information would begin to be collected together. The slutty kimono she was in, the fact that she was laying on top of him, that he was in her room, that they were so close, that he was currently palming her ass, that she wasn’t wearing any underwear, that…

It was too much.

“Azuma.”

It'd seem his movements had done something to stir her awake as well, with some unwanted beams of sunlight compounding Ei waking up. He'd by then have both eyes open as he saw hers begin to flutter open. At first she seemed to remain calm, just shifting her head position on his chest, and resting against it once more without the light in her eyes. She'd have likely not even noticed and went back to sleep if she wasn't using his chest as a pillow. But things are how they are, and she picked up on the difference. Azuma wasn't her pillow, even if he was in place of one right now.

He watched her eyes flutter open and begin gathering information, eventually falling upon Azuma as he looked down at her. It'd be a moment...but she suddenly burst with action, the woman's eyes flying open like blinds let loose to let the light in, and she may had even risen up a little to gain a better view. They locked eyes if only for a moment, a likely confusing moment at that. It took a second, Azuma was frozen at this point, but her voice almost made him shiver when she said his name. In being frozen...he hadn't managed to remove his hand from her tush.

"Mm...yes...Ei?" he'd say with a bit of hesitation and still half groggy, his head a bit sore after drinking so much Sake and failing to replace any of his fluids with something better and more hydrating before sleeping.

She glared at him. Slowly the memories of what had happened last night were streaming back to her, but slowly. She couldn’t remember everything that happened, and what she could remember was patchy. She could only assume the worst. Ei would remain motionless for a few moments, frozen entirely in place. The clock in her brain would begin ticking again slowly after, crunching out the thoughts that had caused the clog. She would immediately reach down to where his hand was and take a firm, firm grasp of his wrist. His hand would be removed from her ass and deposited down on the bed.

Ei got up after that, leaving her bed and getting away from the touch of the male. For someone who was so physically hot, it was difficult to imagine how she could produce a gaze that was so shockingly cold. Her glare down to Azuma was as chilly as ice, and slowly her eyes would narrow as she looked at him. It was clear just from her gaze and actions so far that he was in deep trouble. Even if it wasn’t his fault, Ei was going to be blaming him.

“I’m going to take a shower.” She would say, her voice radiating ice. “Be gone before I finish.” With that she would turn, making her exit into the bathroom, where she would continue to fume.

All Azuma got in response was a glare from her, the woman seemingly frozen in the cold stare. It'd take a moment, before her hand moved--gripping his wrist rather firmly and remove his hand from her figure. The woman shot up and continued to cast an icy gaze his direction--Azuma sitting up in the mean time, rubbing the back of his head as the shift from laying to sitting only compounded his headache.

He looked back at her...little shocked but not showing it much aside from attentive eyes. How could she turn so cold after a night of such warmth...did she forget what happened? Hell at this moment Azuma wasn't even quite sure what happened. The woman's voice cut through the air like a knife and metaphorically stabbed Azuma's ears, before she stormed off to take a shower. He watched her leave the room, getting one final nice look at her lush rear end before she disappeared out of the room. He let out a sigh and his head dropped, only to be followed up by him reaching up and holding his head. It was pounding a bit.

Azuma sat there for a few moments, mind piecing things together. It'd only take about half a minute of thought to remind himself of the events of the night prior. The rooftop...the time spent behind bedroom doors. It all came back to him...the thought made him blush a little. He stood up, body popping a bit from having slept on his back with her atop of him, probably not the most comfy position to sleep in. He looked around, and sighed once more, before making his way out of her bedroom.

Azuma went into the room where the table they had sat at was, there he found multiple bottles of sake, empty. "...Wow we must've been smashed last night." he'd comment to himself, knowing all to well he felt it. He shook his head a little and begun picking up, even if it was very little in the mess that was Ei's apartment. He grabbed the empty Sake bottles and would dispose of them. He'd find his Yukata, the man picking it up from the back of the chair he'd sat in the night before, looking it over. His expression shifted to one of annoyance. "Great...need a new one of these...guess I should hit up the market and see if I can find someone to make me a better Yukata..." he spoke quietly to himself as he looked at his damaged top. He huffed a sigh and would slip it on, letting it cover his torso and one arm, the other clearly burned away. Despite her warning to 'begone', Azuma wasn't so easily shoo'd away. The man would lean against a door frame visible from the Bathroom door once she'd come back from her shower, crossing his arms and shutting his eyes as he patiently waited her to return. Hopefully when she got back she'd have maybe remembered more and cooled off...hopefully.

She entered the bathroom quickly, and once the door was closed behind her she would huff in anger. Ei had almost been stomping as she marched off away from Azuma. She was so frustrated. Not being able to remember all of what happened yesterday was terrifying. Her head was spinning. She was mad, even if she didn’t have any good reason to be right now. Being that she feared the worst, she just wanted to be away from him right now. Have some space to breath. The slutty outfit she had somehow gotten into would be stripped off, and she would throw it against the wall in frustration. She would set the water of her shower onto the highest heat it could go to. Not because she was angry, that was just how she always took her showers. Scalding hot, with steam flowing everywhere throughout her apartment. It was just the way she was because of her body temperature. It resulted in a lot of little changes to your daily schedule that the average person might not think about. She would step in under the scalding hot water, and from that point she would let the water pound down against her skull.

The memories of what happened last night would come back to her in bits and pieces, and eventually she would have the full picture again. Her steaming anger would turn into shock at first, and then incredible embarrassment. Mostly at her own actions. She couldn’t believe that she just allowed him to come in and see her naked like that. Ei would make a mental note to never allow herself to get that drunk with Azuma around again, or else she would apparently just jump onto his dick. The thought of it made her blush even more than what the heat of the shower was doing to her. She had no idea she had the potential to be so… slutty. It made her head spin to think about.

Eventually she would get out, having finished with washing her hair and cleaning herself in addition to cooling off. Despite having gone in to cool herself off, she had gone through with her morning routine as well. Her teeth would be brushed, her hair would be combed through, a light and simple layer of makeup would be applied. Her hair would smell slightly of strawberries from the shampoo, and she would don the bathroom she kept in her bathroom as she exited.

As she saw Azuma, Ei would freeze in place. It seemed like he decided to stay around rather than leave as she had demanded earlier. Ei would just stare at him, stuck like a deer in the headlights. Her righteous anger from earlier had dissipated as she remembered what had happened, and as a result she didn’t have the energy in her to continue with the same iceberg glare she had been giving him. She would stay silent, unsure of exactly what to do or say.

Azuma awaited patiently, this was something Azuma was oddly good at. He was a patient man. Probably took that patients to deal with the ups and downs of Ei's emotions. Most of the time they was flat...but her emotions seemed to spike quickly in either direction. Azuma was used to this...he had known her literally half his life at this point. He knew she could be quick to anger, and was fine with it.

He could feel and smell the steam around him from her shower, it suggested she must have had it very hot. Honestly...this didn't surprise the man. He remembered the warmth she provided...it was much higher then a normal person's temperature. Surely this meant showers felt colder to her, forcing her to make them hotter to compensate. He didn't think on it too much as he waited.

He heard the shower turn off, and remained still as she took her time finishing up, likely performing some sort of morning routine while she was at it. The sound of her brushing her teeth was enough to tip him off to that. Finally the door opened, and Ei would realize he was still there. The man remained leaned against the door frame, arms crossed and eyes shut, the same way he'd been for most of her shower and everything that followed. He didn't hear her say a word, nor walk off ignoring him...his eyes would slide open, glancing to her. He could see she'd lost the temper she had before, now almost looking as if a deer in the headlights. With a lean he pushed himself off from the door frame and stood tall.

"...Just wanted to make sure you cooled off a little before I left...I couldn't leave if you was too mad at me..." he'd say, voice a bit hushed, and lined with a hint of a somber tone. Truth was deep down he was just a bit hurt, she seemed to have either forgotten the night before, or now had changed her feelings on things since sobering up. He wasn't sure, all he knew is she was unhappy with him before storming off to the bathroom. He'd hoped maybe what they shared the night before was something important, something he longed for. But now she'd sown doubt in his mind. He sighed quietly and turned away. "Guess I'll see you later..." he'd say with the same tone as his last words, and his feet slowly would carry him forward, towards the door.

After he turned away Ei would take a step forward, grasping into the cloth of his yukata. She didn’t have the sort of strength to hold in place, and so if he really wanted to continue leaving there was nothing that she could do, but she would still hold tight to him, tugging back at him to try and prevent him from leaving. What he said… She felt guilty now. Letting it end like this wouldn’t have been right, and would have driven a wedge between them. Ei didn’t want that. She would stay still for a moment, just holding onto his yukata behind him. Her thoughts would have to be collected. She wanted to do this with him, but Ei was particular and difficult. Things needed to be done in a certain way. It was like doing the waltz. Your feet had to follow a specific set of steps in a specific order, or you would trip or step on your partner’s feed.

“Tomorrow.” Her voice would cut against the silence. She had to choose her words carefully, both because she wasn’t sure of Azuma’s feelings on the matter and also just to protect her own pride. “I’ll let you take me out somewhere. On a date.” She had to say those last three words just to make it clear what it would be. A date, like dating. A courtship ritual. Ei was being a little bit of a teenage girl about this. A little part of her was afraid now she had offended him with her anger and that he would react poorly to her forcefulness now, but there was no other way she could do this.

“We can… forget that last night ever happened, and start from the beginning with…” She trailed off. Ei wasn’t able to just say it, but she hoped that Azuma understood her feelings.

The Shinobi had only gotten maybe a step from the door frame he'd leaned against before he felt his Yukata tighten around him, a tug from behind. He stopped, no resistance for her to have to provide to keep him in place. Still, he remained turned away, not looking at her. A moment of silence fell between them, but she'd break the silence with a single word at first. Once she got more of what she was saying out, the mention of a date, his head would turn, him looking over his shoulder back at her. Then came the mention that they could just...forget the night before, 'start fresh'. While he was okay with that...he could never forget their night under the Moon's Gaze...their kiss in the rain.

Speaking of which--it was still raining outside, the storm wouldn't move on for a full day, it wouldn't be until much later tonight that the rains would finally yield. For now, it continued to rain outside, and light echos of thunder sparsely rumbled in the distance. He quietly sighed, it was likely inaudible to her ears, and he'd turn back around to face her--his gaze falling upon her, features near lacking emotion. Only his eyes told a tale of the emotions he was pinning up inside of him. It'd be like this for just a moment...him looking at her in silence, before he finally spoke again. "...Tomorrow then." was all he said, an agreement to her proposal of a date. He took a step closer to her, within her personal space, mismatched hues looking down as he towered over the girl by almost a full foot.

He reached out, and softly took a hand of her's within his, much like he had a number of times the night before. He raised her hand up, while he leaned down...the gentleman placing a small kiss on the back of her hand, glancing up to her afterwards, before rising back to his full height and letting go. He turned around again, and froze for just a moment. "...But...I will never forget about our night under the moon's fading light...." he said quietly, echoing the poem he'd spoken for her the night before, as well as letting her know he had no intentions to just simply forget it, like it'd never happened.

With that, the man stepped forward, the sound of her door being unlocked so he could exit it only followed by the creak of him opening and shutting the door to pass through it, exiting Ei's apartment. He ended up not walking away instantly...the man leaned his back softly against the door he'd just exited through, his head tilting back to rest against the door as he looked up. He reflected on the past 12 or so hours of his life for a moment against Ei's door, hands sliding into his pockets as he did...with a deep breathe he shoved off the door quietly--never making a noise to tell he had still been there--and would go on, making his way back to the streets of Sunagakure, and heading home.

--Exit post

When his head turned, Ei would look up into him again rather than just stare at his back. The fact that he accepted, even if still in that same tone of voice, was a relief. She was at ease once again. Everything would be okay. And then he would step closer, into her personal space, and she would be set off balance again as if that temporary moment of peace had never happened. Ei looked up at Azuma. He was so tall, and he felt even taller when he was this close. It was one of those things she found herself noticing more and more recently. What came next, with Azuma taking ahold of her hand leaning down to press a kiss to the back, it was enough to make her swoon all over again. Her heart skipped a beat. It was just like that moment on the roof all over again. It was almost too much for her poor little heart, especially after all the emotional turmoil she had gone through in the last twelve hours. Together with what he said about not forgetting their night together… She felt like she was melting.

When he left she would slump back, and the air would come out of here as if she were a balloon that was just untied. Deflating a bit, she would lean against the closed bathroom door and slowly lower herself until she was sitting down. Her palms would be pressed into her cheeks, and Ei would slowly rub at them, trying to remove the furious flush she had that consumed her face. She couldn’t really remember ever feeling like this in the past, and so it was almost frustrating as she had no idea how to react to these kinds of emotions. She would be left in this state as he left, with all those feelings swirling around inside of her all over again.


[Exit]