[Shitai Maimomu]

For some reason, it is her heart which lurches this time, but only when he uses her nickname. Always formal, always her superior, she hardly heard the name off his lips. But the thoughts and feelings about it are gone as quickly as they came, replaced instead by dread as they grew closer and closer to her mother's humble abode. She winces as his knuckles rap against the door. She squeezes her eyes shut. Oh, Gods.

A moment passes. 

The door creaks open, revealing a woman a little taller than Umechika. Her pert face is pale and her eyes are sleepy - she'd been reading her book and fallen asleep in the living room, Ume could tell. The blond woman is wearing a large white robe and she pulls it tightly around her shoulders against the chill. She looks confused. "May I help you...?"

Ume doesn't give Hayato a chance to reply. She picks up a hand, head still resting against Hayato's nape, and waves over his head. "Hi, ma."

Omaharu switches gears, a look of concern coming over her matriarchal expression. "Maimomu? Oh, my gosh, come in, come in!" Hastily ushering Hayato into the house, Omaharu closes the door and circles Ume's steed to rub at her daughter's back soothingly. "What happened? Is she hurt? Are you coming from a mission?"

Ume groans from her place on Hayato's back, already irritated by her mother's doting. Again, she doesn't let Hayato answer for her. "No, ma, 'm fine, 'm fine, I drank too much."

"Oh," Omaharu shakes her head, coming back around to greet Hayato. Behind Omaharu is the living room, while directly adjacent to Hayato is a staircase. Omaharu smiles at him, reaches out a hand to shake, realizes his hands are a little full and wipes them over the front of her robe. "What a gentleman. You may call me Oma. Are you a friend or a helpful citizen?" An annoyed groan rises from behind Hayato. "Oh, right right, take her upstairs to her room, I'll get her some food cooking to help settle her stomach."

Then Oma disappears, leaving the two at the bottom of the stairs. Ume groans again. 

---

Kazuhiro Hayato - 362WC

[Kazuhiro Hayato]

[attr="class","dilyrics2"]Shinobi May Keep Secrets ButLoyalty [attr="class","dilyric2"]Is It's Own Reward

[attr="class","dibody2"] Everything seems to happen in a whirlwind of movement. He has a few seconds to come to term that the person that had opened the door resembled her daughter so much save for a few details. He was about to open his mouth before the pinkette spoke for him, her words coming as a weak mumble before he was ushered inside the house, the warmth of the hearth dispelling the biting cold of the blizzard. Another barrage of questions comes and another set of replies come from the young woman perched on his back, explaining the situation. Her mother steps in front of him, giving him a warm smile and asks about him before another groan prompts Omaharu to begin preparing food for her daughter as she relayed his orders to lay her down. Ume groans once more. "Relax." He said as he moved to the stairs, being careful with each step as he ascends to the living quarters of the house. He doesn't have much to say, he had wanted to explain to her mother what had happened, at the very least try to to introduce himself and allow her to take care of her child. Something did tell him, that Umechika didn't exactly wish to be here. As he reaches the final step, he would take a quick glance, finding several doors in a narrow hallway, one room to the right having a sign that informed that this was indeed his companions bed. "Almost there." He says, turning the doorknob and opening the door, revealing a room that he had to guess was common for a girl in her mid-teens. Cutesy, almost overwhelming so to him. Putting that aside he located her bed and knelt next to it, letting the young Shitai to release her hold and find rest in her old bed. "There, that wasn't so bad, was it now?" He asked, with a sigh. [attr="class","ditags2"]318 ✖ Shitai Maimomu ✖ notes if you want

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + GS

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[Shitai Maimomu]

Oh Gods, oh no, he was entering her room. Oh, this was bad, he was gonna see the interior, he was going to see how she decorated when she was younger. Why couldn't he have taken her to her apartment? ...oh, he probably didn't know where it was. But still! Ugh!

Auuuugh!

As they enter, Ume cringes. She cringes again as he finally eases her off his back onto the pink sheets. "There, that wasn't so bad, was it now?" He sighs a little and Ume's stomach twists - was he annoyed at her? Or was it simply a relieved breath after carrying her for so long? Luckily, the booze were waning and her mind was coming a little clearer, so she didn't spiral over the thought. Still, it was an annoying thought regardless. 

Ume sighs too. Time to pretend they're not here alone together in the middle of her childhood room, decorated with pinks and whites and reds and posters of various media characters she had once liked and little trinkets and figures lining the shelves. "It was... fine..." Her voice is sheepish, and she sways a little where she sits on her bed. She looks up at Hayato, then has to look away. Her cheeks are dusted pink. Her stomach gives a hardy grumble. She closes her eyes, presses a hand over her abdomen. "Thank you, Hayato-kun."

Then she drops backwards, one arm stretched over satin pillows and the other still caressing her empty stomach. "Ma's making food but it's not gonna do much. I haven't..." the red stretched across her face grows brighter, tinging the tips of her pointy ears. She groans, hides her muzzle in her shoulder. "You wouldn't get it."

---

Kazuhiro Hayato - 310WC

[Kazuhiro Hayato]

[attr="class","dilyrics2"]Shinobi May Keep Secrets ButLoyalty [attr="class","dilyric2"]Is It's Own Reward

[attr="class","dibody2"] Hayato blinks at the honorific she uses to refer him as. Try as he might, he can't remember when it was the last time he was referred under those terms. He blinks again as she begins to struggle once more. Like a caged bird, its wings clipped, unable to find sustenance in the form of prey that they would normally feed upon. She acts, in his opinion, very much like a child would do when they're denied of their favorite treat and even to someone like him devoid in understanding of arts he find the whole ordeal overacted. The former ANBU Captain would retreat for a second, finding a chair from a desk she had used and pulling it, placing it next to the bed and groans at how she's acting. "No." He replies as he seats down in the chair and faces the pinkette. His features remaining stern and stoic, as if carved from stone. "I can't understand and... I won't pretend that I understand the terms on how your hunger and thirst work." He added as he would take his glove and began to pull the sleeve of his shirt just beneath his elbow, revealing the pale flesh beneath, scars in the form of thin scratches, burn marks that would remind anyone of the erratic pattern of running lightning, and light slashes that all had healed but had left a mark would be revealed. "But in truth." He added as he contemplated his arm and looked at Umechika. "I can live without knowing, but I despise not helping someone I'm fond off if I have the chance." He said, wondering if her mother could've served the same purpose, but decided not to ask her that question. Slowly he would extend his arm for her, bringing it close to the young woman, allowing her permission to feed, but just before she was about to bite him he retracted the arm slightly. "Please, don't exsanguinate me, Umechika." He told her and awaited. [attr="class","ditags2"]332 ✖ Shitai Maimomu ✖ notes if you want

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + GS

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[Shitai Maimomu]

Laying there, she listens to Hayato take a seat in her old office chair and muse about her hunger. She didn't need it, she didn't need it, she didn't need it. And really, she didn't - the food would be enough to fill her stomach, take away the spins. All it would not do is revitalize her, make her feel strong and happy and good. But she didn't need it. She didn't need it.

He takes off a glove. Ume picks up her head, blinking slow at him as he admits he is fond of her, that he would help her. She pops up quickly, her face shining brightly with that cracked grin of hers. Predatory, hungry. Almost lewd. She licks at her lips at the offer. "Really!?" Her hands move for his waiting arm, but he retracts it out of her reach just slightly.

"Please, don't exsanguinate me, Umechika."

She shakes her head feverishly, reaching gently for his hand, clasping one of hers over his knuckles. She can feel the scars there under her fingers, under her skin as she slides her other palm over his palm, over his wrist, pushes back his sleeve just a bit more. She can feel her blood roaring in her ears and her heart gives an eager thumpthump. Contradicting her earlier deprecating whines about how he shouldn't trust her, or get too close to her, she breathes a reassuring whisper as she brings his limb closer, "You can trust me."

Pretty pink lips part and she brings the scarred wrist to her mouth gingerly, eyes sliding shut in tandem with the breaking of skin with her pearly white canines. The parallel punctures flare red as she pulls her teeth back to wrap her mouth around the wound, careful not to drool all over him. A little happy noise escapes her nose as soon as she takes the first pull - sanguine touches her tongue, her throat, she can feel it slip down into her belly like a warm beverage. The action is slow and terribly intimate, and for a moment she reflects on the taste of him. Aside from her mother, he is the first living human to offer his essence to her, but she had tasted many flavors of red. His, though, was rich and metallic, a certain sweetness exploding on the back of the palette. It was, to say the least, amazing. 

Making sure to control herself, Ume takes two more deep draws before pulling back with a satisfied sigh. Her muscles feel relaxed, but her body feels strong - her head is clear now, and the curl in her stomach is gone. She was, for all intents and purpose, in peak shape now.

Ume couldn't look at him. 

Releasing his arm, Ume pretends not to feel any type of way. "I feel so much better!" Her voice is a boom and her body follows quickly. Jumping to her feet, Ume stretches her arms over her head. "You rock, Cap'!" Suddenly, something is off. Suddenly, Ume is in a hurry to usher him out the door. She wanders that way, lingering so that he knows to follow. "Welp, ma's probably worried about you spending too much time up here alone with her vulnerable drunk daughter, sooo...."

---

Kazuhiro Hayato - 542WC

[Kazuhiro Hayato]

[attr="class","dilyrics2"]Shinobi May Keep Secrets ButLoyalty [attr="class","dilyric2"]Is It's Own Reward

[attr="class","dibody2"] He takes a deep breath as the girl nods the condition of self control. He watches intently as how she licks her lips in anticipation of his blood and relaxes his arm as she begins. The twin canines that pierce his flesh flash briefly, but even when the invasion and the mechanisms his body has to advise him about such intrusion or damage, he barely narrows his eyes, Hayato doesn't winces nor recoils in pain. He simply sits as he watches the pinkette drink eagerly and somewhat greedily until she finds the self control and releases the contact. His other hand moving to stop the bleeding, pressing fingers against the two marks she drew from his flesh as the young woman throws herself against the bed. His eyes blink once more as she seemed revitalized, the usual demeanor that he had always known her for, restored. It was a peculiar and wonderous thing. He had never seen the Shitai feed, more out of respecting their privacy as he didn't find the acts strange, if it was part of what stood them apart then he could not condemn them. But the fact that she had seemingly recovered so quickly seemed to surprise him nonetheless. "I'm not your captain." Hayato reminded her. "But, you're welcomed." He said before she would begin to show him out of her room, explaining her reasons as he being here would raise suspicion with her mother. "Why would she think that?" Hayato seriously asked. Omaharu had in the short time he had known her, referred him as a gentlemanly person and she didn't seem the type to to demand that he waited. It had been scant ten minutes since they had arrived at least. But in truth, he decided not to argue with Umechika, technically this was her house. "Right... your lips are stained with my blood however. And I need to stop the bleeding on my arm." Hayato explained as he marched out of the room and began to descent the steps. Maybe they had some first aid kit around here that he could dress the small injury with. [attr="class","ditags2"]353 ✖ Shitai Maimomu ✖ notes if you want

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + GS

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[Shitai Maimomu]

"Why would she think that?"

Shit. Shut up. He's right, she really wouldn't think twice of it - in fact, she might even assume the best of Hayato's intentions. But he didn't need to know that.

"Oh, you know, she's all protective and whatever-" Actually, that part's not a lie. "She's always been so stern about boys in my room ha ha!" At this point she is nudging him down the stairs, descending quickly with him.

"Right... your lips are stained with my blood however. And I need to stop the bleeding on my arm."

Shit. Dammit.

To her horror, he does not go straight out the door and leave without a trace. To her horror, he takes a left, down the hallway toward the kitchen. Frantically, Ume is at his heels, trying desperately to hint that he should leave, but words don't even come out of her mouth before she hears her mother's voice approaching. Just as she turns the threshold, Ume yanks open the door under the stairwell and shoves Hayato into an impressively small half bathroom. "One sec, ma!" Umechika's voice booms from the other side of a slamming door.

She spins around, and-

Ume's face turns red.

The half-bath is small when she's alone in it, so it is tiny with Hayato squeezed in here with her. The four by four room is big enough for the toilet between them and the sink to their right. The cramped space is dissimilar from the rest of the white house, bare wood instead. The stairwell hangs overhead, so the ceiling is at a low angle. For a moment, Ume is caught staring up at Hayato as he towers over her.

She snaps out of it, breezing forward, pushing him back even further into the cramped space so that she can look into the mirror over the sink. Sure enough, blood is smeared over her lips - she clicks her tongue and turns the water. She grabs two wash cloths, dabs one over her mouth, and wets the other. As she sets hers aside and turns the water off, she steps back, turning to Hayato to snatch up his offended arm. "Sorry, I dunno how she'd react to me drinking someone's blood. She might get the wrong idea..." She is referring to her father, who lost himself to the nasty blood addiction that threatens all Shitai. Not that Hayato would know about that. Maybe. She wasn't sure. She is quiet as she gently cleans the wound she had inflicted upon her retired captain. Icy blue eyes dance up, catch his dark gaze, and dance back down.

---

Kazuhiro Hayato - 435WC

[Kazuhiro Hayato]

[attr="class","dilyrics2"]Shinobi May Keep Secrets ButLoyalty [attr="class","dilyric2"]Is It's Own Reward

[attr="class","dibody2"] Hayato was perplexed. His eyebrow raising again at the actions of Umechiko. He perhaps could understand not presenting herself to her mother with his vitae smeared around her mouth. He could understand not being in her room, even when he had shown no malice and the door of the room had remained open. But as he was shoved into a bathroom and the petite pinkette stepped with him, his eyes changed from expressionless to slightly annoyed. They were close enough that he could observe the change of pigmentation in her cheeks, enough to feel her agitated breath strike his face and the faint scent of iron. As she would take his hand and explain why she was acting the way she was, Hayato simply narrowed his eyes once more. Something beyond the simple need of taking sustenance from blood terrified her. And as she cleans herself and then cleans the injury she had caused he simply sighs. "Your mother will think ill if she finds us here." Hayato said, pointing out the obvious. "I'm not sure what you think she's going to get upset for, being acting like this won't solve it." He said, gently retracting his hand, content enough that the bleeding had been stopped and what remained in his wrist was two marks from where she had drawn blood. "Thank you." Hayato said, opening the door for her to move out and then taking a moment to follow her out of the restroom, finally stretching to his full height in a room that had been barely big enough for Umechika and her mother, it had been a miracle that the two had fit in there. "You don't need to explain to me, if you don't want." He said, looking at her, starting to roll his sleeve back to cover his forearm. "But, whatever worries you, you ought to talk with your mother." [attr="class","ditags2"]314 ✖ Shitai Maimomu ✖ notes if you want

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + GS

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[Shitai Maimomu]

Ah, he was right - her excuse of her mother thinking ill of Hayato because he's alone with her in that childhood bedroom was surely outweighed by how suspicious this whole escapade was. Woops. She wasn't thinking.

Like a scolded child, or a bad dog, Ume drops her gaze and keeps her head down. Her smile is missing again, her eyes hooded and eyebrows narrowed - she wears her pensive expression shamefully. As he takes away his arm she feels something miserable stir in her gut, and she tosses the wet washcloth into the sink basin to wring scornfully at her own hands under her giant cloak.

Then he's reaching around her in the cramped space, inadvertently pressing his chest into her face. She stills, eyes wide, and stumbles backwards out the now open half-bath door. Her blue eyes dart toward the kitchen, find that her mother has her back turned so that she can fuss with whatever she's cooking on the stove, and hisses a little as Hayato speaks a little too loudly about how she ought to talk to her mother. What did he know? He wouldn't understand. She closes the bathroom door.

"You don't get it," Ume breathes. "Ma... my mother is scared of me." Her voice is a hush as she takes Hayato by the sleeve and leads him back to the front door. She opens it, urges him out, but comes to stand with him outside. The door closes behind them.

She takes a deep, steadying breath.

Tears prick at her eyes. Weak. Pathetic. She rubs them away quickly, before Hayato can see.

"I can't talk to her," Ume says, a bit louder now that they're in the safety of the cold outdoors. "I... Do you really... want to know? What the issue is?"

Still, she can't meet his dark gaze. But for some reason, she doesn't want it to disappear - she doesn't want him to go.

Damn, maybe the booze are still getting to her.

---

Kazuhiro Hayato - 329WC

[Kazuhiro Hayato]

[attr="class","dilyrics2"]Shinobi May Keep Secrets ButLoyalty [attr="class","dilyric2"]Is It's Own Reward

[attr="class","dibody2"] "Scared of you?" Hayato asked after he had been ushered out. He found that strange. Sure, Umechika did drink blood, it was part of her clan's abilities to heal and find nourishment. In fact, he had seen her in action for the duration of the brief stint in which they had served, he had seen the deadliness that she had. But still it was strange to think that a mother would be scared of her daughter. The woman seemed to love her child enough to stop whatever she was doing to cook for her. Yet as seemed to move away, looking at him as if she was ashamed or something, he remained perplexed, trying to come with a reason without her input until she would ask him if he wanted to know. As he would take a step down, moving to face her, placing his hand on her shoulder, his fingers digging gently on her flesh so in case she would turn away she wouldn't. His eyes looked at the young woman, noting that there were streaks caused by moisture. She is crying. He thought before she would either face him directly or remain looking down at the street. Hayato closed his eyes and released his gentle grip. "She doesn't fear you. She fears what you could become." He guessed, sensing that he was close to the truth that she alluded to. "Because of your father or for something you have done?" He said quietly as he continued his conjecture. That was, perhaps the reason for which she had seemed distressed to keep the blood she had drank from him a secret from her mother. "No... Truly I can't understand how it is." He said, avoiding her sight for a second as once more the memories of parents he couldn't truly remember emerged. He would turn his gaze at her once more. "But I've fought alongside you, and you are no monster." The Former ANBU Captain said. [attr="class","ditags2"]327 ✖ Shitai Maimomu ✖ notes if you want

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + GS

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[Shitai Maimomu]

As he steps to her eyelevel, placing a hand over her shoulder, her body feels a wave of white. It's sort of an anxious feeling, one that usually comes paired with affection from others. It almost makes her sick. She won't meet his gaze at first, staring down the cold street with a hardened expression.

Her eyes slide shut as he guesses correctly. Damn him for picking up on it, for being more thoughtful than he lead on to be. "No... Truly I can't understand how it is." Now that he's looking away, she looks to him - quickly, she studies his face. He has the same sad complexion, the one he wore earlier in the bar and then any time before that. She didn't have to wonder what he was sad about, but it bothered her anyway. "But I've fought alongside you, and you are no monster."

Ah. He is too sweet.

Her stomach lurches.

Sickening.

Ume's hand comes up to idly shoo off the tether, head and gaze rolling around as casually and unbothered as she can manage. Heat suffocates her face, her cheeks, behind her eyes. Blood pounds in her ears, and she thinks idly about how his blood swirls in her gut now. Intimate. "Ah, you saw through me, Cap'," she oozes, descending past him to come to a stand at the bottom of the porch. Back to him, grinding her teeth and clinching her jaw to distract from the pinpricks at her eyes. Her voice is unwavering despite, and she looks up into the moon, toward the slight dusting of snow beginning to petal down on top of them. Beneath her cloak, sleeves hanging limp at her sides, Ume crosses her arms. Even her corpse of a body felt the chill creeping in. "I. Um. Appreciate it, Hayato. But I'm not gonna dump my mommy issues on ya."

Finally, her usual crazed smile cuts through her face, eye to eye. Her pearly white canines flash in the moonlight as she looks to Hayato. "I'll save that for the third date." A banshee cackle rises from her core and dies in the next breath.

---

Kazuhiro Hayato - 357

[Kazuhiro Hayato]

[attr="class","dilyrics2"]Shinobi May Keep Secrets ButLoyalty [attr="class","dilyric2"]Is It's Own Reward

[attr="class","dibody2"] "I'm not your captain." He reminded her softly, following her with her gaze. Quietly observing on the way she was acting and wondering if he had done anything to upset her with his choice of words. He didn't press the issue any further as he didn't saw any benefit of meddling in the wound that had seemed to reopen. And in truth he couldn't give an opinion as a son. As a shinobi he had seen comrades die, people he called friends being driven to a berserker frenzy that had forced his hand into them down. He couldn't remember any records of a Shitai that had fallen to such depths that would have made them a danger to others once they had fallen to their thirst. As she turned and to him, dispelling whatever impression of sadness that she might have had. Her grin seemed to go from ear to ear, her skin still showed some reddening that he thought had to be due the cold of the night. A cackle that made him remember those few times he had confronted Shinobi he had once called allies, now consumed by insanity. He didn't blink, he remained impassive and unimpressed, his features just changing slightly until she mentioned a third date. He supposed going out for drinks had been that so he didn't dare to contradict her there. "Make sure then, you're properly fed." He told her, crossing his arms before his chest before his features softened ever so slightly, giving her a hint of a smile before he would begin to take a few steps back. "I'm sure you and your mother have much to catch up on." He told her, his arms folding behind his back then. "And I don't wish to meddle." And in truth, he wasn't terribly great with interactions with other people. "Thank you for the drinks." [attr="class","ditags2"]311 ✖ Shitai Maimomu ✖ notes if you want

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[Shitai Maimomu]

She watches him descend the front steps, shrinking from towering over her to towering over her, but closer. Her smile cracks her face wide apart, creasing even her soft gaze. Icy blue glitters in the moonlight.

"Make sure then, you're properly fed." Ume clicks her tongue, thinks of the food her mother is brewing, thinks of drawing a blade across her mother's wrist and suckling from it like a newborn at a teat, she thinks of her teeth puncturing Hayato's skin. "I'm sure you and your mother have much to catch up on." she thinks of her father, of her work, of her blades at an enemy's throat. Of course, she wouldn't be talking about any of it with Omaharu. "And I don't want to meddle." Ume's grin widens, if that's even possible, as she watches him bow away from her. It was almost timid, but the hint of a smile is warm. It sets him apart from the ones who back away from her in fear.

"Thank you for the drinks."

"Thank yourself, you paid. Thank you for a sip."

Another laugh, but this one is gentle. It bubbles down the street.

Waiting for him to disappear into the night, Umechika doesn't duck back into the house until she's sure she's alone.

---

Kazuhiro Hayato - 213

[ EXIT ]