[raimaa futago]

As Sora hit Raimaa, it felt very....weird. Almost as if the muscles within it were spinning in some effective counter-force to Sora's strike. The force bled away, and she was left with a light boof. Bukijutsu, it seemed, was not the only weapon in her arsenal.

"You have no idea how hard it was to just deflect the sword. Every bit of muscle memory screaming to take the whole front end of the train off with Thunder God" Raimaa would exclaim, rolling her shoulder and flourishing her sword a bit more.

"So, you done? I still got like, three more styles to go through. Four if we add in Taijutsu"

[Sora Minami]

"Yeah, I’m done for now." Sora said, chuckling at the taller woman’s enthusiasm. She loved to spar as much as anyone, but this hadn’t been about improving her skills, but clearing her head. She’d done that, so now there was no reason to keep going- not when they had a whole train ride to do other things. "We’ll definitely have to go at it again though, when circumstances aren’t so… constricting."

"You’re quite good. Better than I’d heard, and that’s saying a lot." She said, offering the Futago back her bokken as she walked to one of the seats and sat down. Neither of them had been fighting at full speed, nor using their preferred weapons, but still. Few people could truly keep up with her when it came to Kenjutsu, especially speed wise, but Raimaa had done more than that- she’d very nearly outclassed her. Nearly, but that she was even in the same league was impressive.

"Is… is your wife as good as you are?” Sora asked, blushing slightly as she realized how that might be taken, and added, "Kenjutsu wise, not… You know."

raimaa futago

[raimaa futago]

"I have biological advantages" Raimaa would reply, taking the bokken and desummoning it back to her armoury. "I've got a small level of adrenaline in my bloodstream 24/7, which sharpens my physical capabilities in every situation. And, after a long time of using my Hijutsu, my body is predisposed to adrenal absorption, which makes even a normal adrenaline rush a much more potent thing than any normal person.

I eat a lot, and drink a lot, and sleep a lot. Because I am pretty much operating 120% all the time, and 170% with normal adrenals. Hence, playing around with a Jounin of your caliber"

Raimaa would then lean against the door, and ponder. She was less surprised at having a match. What with Mei and Saya around, plus Raisetsu of old and Sensei Oda of new. She was well aware of where she stood.

"I, don't actually know. She did, once upon a time, keep up with me in combat, but I am unsure of if she still does. It's been a while since I've had a fight with her"

[Sora Minami]

Sora listened to Raimaa’s explanation with sincere interest, her lips parting in a soft smile as she thought about the advantages the woman’s Hijutsu brought to the table. Being able to consistently have that slight edge brought about by a low level dose of adrenaline in her bloodstream was… potent, to say the least, especially for someone so talented at Kenjutsu. And her wife is on the same level? Just who the hell did she marry?

"That sounds like a lot to handle, honestly." She said, glancing out the small window at the frosted landscape as it sped by. Yuki no Kuni was heralded as a mostly empty hellscape of snow and ice in most places, but with views like that? She could understand why some people choose to remain. "Though, anyone who can keep you on a leash is probably damn near Kage-level."

Sora chuckled, looking back at Raimaa as she gestured for the Futago to sit. "Tell me about her. How did you two meet?"

raimaa futago

[raimaa futago]

"It absolutely is. The demon in my blood allows me no rest" Raimaa exclaimed, with a nod. "But, not so much. Power doesn't come into it when it comes to me. As Emiri and Tani and Saya and Takara and Granny Shuka all found out. Force doesn't work with the Futago, we are too proud and too violently active to be forced into doing things. The more you push, the more we push back. We are not above getting killed to make a point"

Raimaa would then give a laugh, and play with her collar a bit as she moved to sit down.

"Funny you should mention being kept on a leash though~"

[Sora Minami]

Sora felt her cheeks flush as Raimaa spoke, sky-blue gaze darting to the collar around her neck and back to the woman’s face. She had noticed the collar before, but hadn’t thought it much more than accessory- to hear that the woman who had so clearly outclassed her walked around in what amounted to an actual frozen dog collar, however, was a bit more… spicy than she expected. This Mei must really be something…

"I see." She said, glancing away from the taller woman as she sat down. "That doesn’t exactly answer my question though. How did you and this… Mei meet?" And who even was she, to be able to do what Raimaa claimed she could do? Yuki didn’t have that many powerful shinobi, even counting that one defector. The Futago had already named all but one, but there was no way-

Wait. Frozen collar. Made of ice…

"You’re married to the Ice Dragon of Yuki?!" Sora blurted out, eyes going wide with sheer surprise as she realized who Raimaa was talking about. "How in the- how did that even happen?"

raimaa futago

[raimaa futago]

"Ice Dragon?" Raimaa would ask, with a cock of her head. "Hmm, yea. She did have that cool dragon armour when I fought her that one time. Stretching my legs out on some weirdness of my Hijutsu that then sorta just went the same way it came in" Raimaa would shrug, and lean back on the chair.

"As for how we met, I was here in Yuki after having been betrayed by everyone I ever cared about, twice. Just, chilling on a rooftop, chewing on what turned out to be a paralytic root. And Mei found me, and rescued me from such a horrible situation. Then took me home. I don't know she she decided to comfort a stray, depressed Nuke that day, but I am glad she did. because I found new reason to live, in her"

[Sora Minami]

Sora blinked, trying to process what the woman said, blinking rapidly as the words swirled about her mind, bouncing off one another in a way that simply didn’t make sense. They’d met on a roof? While she was chewing on a poisonous plant? And then they’d just gone to Mei’s house? Got married? She’d said it as if it was just another thing, but to hear the circumstances…

"Yes, Ice Dragon. She’s…" She said, trying to collect her thoughts. "She’s a very famous ninja, Raimaa." Famous in the "I have left battlefields littered with the frozen corpses of my enemies” way, right up there with the true monsters of the world when it came to body counts. And she wanted to convince this person to share her wife?

"Oh god, she’s gonna bloody kill me for touching you…" Sora muttered, leaning back as she closed her eyes and sighed, trying not to freak out. Because of course she’d have to find someone she liked in another village who was married to an actual fucking monster who could kill her with a breath. Of course I would.

raimaa futago

[raimaa futago]

"So am I, but you aren't swooning over me" Raimaa replied, shrugging softly. And then the train pulled into the station, and Raimaa jumped up.

"Come along! Time to meet the missus!" She exclaimed, in a tone that was perhaps mor cheery than it would have been if Sora wasn't in her current mindset.

[Sora Minami]

"This is different." Sora said, running a hand through her hair as the train shuddered around them. Was… was it going slower than it had been? "I at least had a chance to get to talk to you before I stepped over the line. My first impression with her is going to be-"

The train shuddered around her then, cutting her off as it, indeed, began to slow before grinding to a halt at the Byakuya station. Raimaa stood, cheerful as ever, and opened the door to their compartment, clearly intent on leading her to wherever it was she lived. Ah, fuck it. The Jounin shrugged, letting loose a deep sigh as she stood up and followed after the taller woman, shaking her head.

"Fine. Have it your way. But if she kills me, I’m haunting both of you."

raimaa futago

[raimaa futago]

"I've still got a Jinchuriki seal jutsu from my time as the Lady of Kusagakure. So if you haunt me, I can seal you into a set of ropes and you can have fun with me all day~"

Raimaa would give a coy skip as they departed, and then pause for a moment, and turn around.

"Right. She unretired recently. She's in Yukigakure now. Which, also means going to see Lady Shuka first so we aren't being rude" Raimaa commented, holding her chin for a moment.

"So, back onto the metal beast. Tally ho, and all that"

[Sora Minami]

Sora stared at Raimaa with a flat, unwavering glare, lips pressed in a thin line as the woman spoke, remembering that, as a matter of fact, Byakuya was not where her wife was; she was in Yukigakure itself. Which would mean getting back on the train, if she really wanted to try and do… whatever it was she wanted. I swear, the things I do…

"Fine." She said, turning back towards the compartment they had just been in, her voice showing the strain of the constant emotional whiplash that was being around the Futago. "But if we’re stuck in here awhile more, I want something for all the trouble." She didn’t know what yet, but she would figure it out. Even if she had to drag it out of the woman.

"You coming?"

raimaa futago

[raimaa futago]

"I can offer a shiny yen and a kick in the head" Raimaa would reply, following Sora back into the train. It was quite clear by now that Raimaa wasn't just being poetic or dramatic when she mentioned the Demon in her blood. More likely, it referred to the adrenals inside her that was keeping her constantly hyperactivre with no chance to come down or rest for a moment. Just a constant raging rush of power, energy and activity from now until she passed out. And then after that, after she got back up.

[Sora Minami]

Sora waited for the Futago to come back to their compartment, her foot tapping as she thought over what she wanted to ask of Raimaa for the inconvenience of having to travel all the way to Yukigakure just to meet with her wife. Her mind swirled with ideas, but one kept popping back up- something she should have dismissed, but didn’t. It was… risky, to be sure, with a high chance of backfiring on her, but after the thrashing she’d just received, both physically and emotionally, she needed some kind of payback. If only for her pride to remain relatively intact.

"I don’t want any of those, dear." She said once Raimaa entered the compartment, shutting the door behind her with a smile. The Kiri Jounin stepped forward, lips spreading wide as she gently but firmly guided the taller woman to the back of the compartment, relying on the fact that she hadn’t actually fought back before- if anything, she seemed to submit when met with force, or at least when it wasn’t meant to coerce or inflict harm. "What I want…"

She leaned forwards, smile as wide as ever as she slid into her, body pressing against body so they could each feel the other's curves. She wasn’t going for sex here; despite their closeness, her hands were visible on the wall beside the Futago’s face, and the only contact between them was below the shoulders, even if it was a fair bit. No, what she was going for here was a blush, a single hint of surprise out of the unpredictable woman… and perhaps something else as well.

"...What I want is this." Sora whispered, pressing her lips to Raimaa’s, her heart thundering in her chest despite the evenness of her voice. It was a risk, one that could get her horribly maimed or worse, but she was tired of waiting, of being teased and poked without actually getting anything. Even if she get resoundingly beaten for it, she wouldn’t regret this. Not after such a long time.

raimaa futago

[raimaa futago]

Raimaa did indeed not fought, going along with the woman's plans. Though when she decided to try and get feisty again, that was when Raimaa acted. The first time was fine, it was out of ignorance. This time, was an insult. And Raimaa didn't take insults well. She did manage to not react too violently, but it was still pretty resounding.

As Sora pressed her lips against Raimaa's own, there was a 'ping' sound, and then the feel of sharp steel against Sora's neck. It seemed Raimaa's prosthetic was full of toys, including blades where the fingernails should be.

"I am sliding away from 'polite' here, Sora" Raimaa spoke, in a cold tone. "Once is an accident, twice is an insult"