[miyake mikio]

CONSEQUENCES BE DAMNED Maru was on the prowl. The streets of Amegakure’s downtown area were busy today—to be expected, on a weekend afternoon, when there was shopping to do and places to be. Maru avoided the crowds—it was not a common sight to see a feline predator traipsing through the city streets unleashed, and prior instances of panicked cries for help had made the puma wary of making himself seen and known. He wore an Amegakure hitai-ate tied around his neck like a collar: protection against overenthusiastic animal-catchers. Slinking through shadows and side alleys, he kept his nose to the ground, whiskers twitching with curiosity as a scent-trail led him all across town. Then: target sighted. Slink breaking into a sprint, the puma darted through a crowd to the astonishment and fear of midday shoppers and pounced, flinging himself bodily at a teen boy with shaggy brown hair. Though half the boy’s size, he weighed just as much, and he would put no small effort into pinning the boy down with his meaty paws. Somewhere nearby a mop of pink, crowned with floppy ears and shielded by a transparent umbrella, wove deftly through the crowds: a keeper in search of her cat and his prey. Gima Taro -- 204

MADE BY NIGHTBLOOM

[Gima Taro]

If Taro had a ryo for every time he was stuck in a crowd being hunted or hunting someone down, he'd only have two ryo, but it was still weird it happened twice.

Which is why as he walked through them, moving to his usual designated meeting spot, he found himself a little stunned when he heard screams and gasps. I mean of course there'd be screams and gasps- It was still a freaking puma in the streets of Amegakure. And now it had leapt out and into the crowds. To say fear was represented would be an understatement, and Taro quickly turned his head as he heard the sound of trouble.

Taro constantly had his head on a swivel- It was just the kind of person he was- Someone wound tight, ready for an ambush at the drop of a pin. He was a careful person, and it kept him alive, and safe. Against any human opponent, he'd easily be able to counter this strike and send the would-be assailant crashing into the ground, possibly with a kunai in their gut- But...

Sadly, this wasn't a human. Or a normal Puma, for that matter. It was a freaking Ninja. Well, a Ninja Puma. A Ninuma. Taro was not able to protect himself- He had no way to do so... He was completely at the mercy of this... Wild cat, as he was slammed down into the ground with a grunt and a yelp.

Where was heading off to though? Why, his usual practice grounds, of course. He had been spending less and less time with team three these days- His new title and job meant he often spent most of his day meditating, practicing, and working at techniques that he couldn't really just go doing in public- So he liked a bit of privacy.

Plus, his teacher didn't really come out of the sewers often so... You know. Tough to go from training in the sewers to hanging out with your pals. He needed some time to wash off and such.

Still, here he was, in all of his brown, boring glory, staring up at a creature he could only describe as... Mrm. Was that...

"...Maru?" He knew the name- After all, he had worked with Mimi before, and hung out now and then- Not a lot, mind you, but enough to know the names of her... Well, pets? He never really asked about them. He just heard about them.

He looked around to find an owner- Not that such a thing was hard. Pink haired girls with floppy animal ears usually stood out like a sore thumb and Mimi was no exception, as he stared over at her.

"Listen- What happened to those guys was an accident. How was I supposed to know one of them had asthma?!" He questioned accusingly, assuming he was in trouble for his... Dealings with the local thugs, which had earned him a nice wound in the gut (Which this cat was now standing on) and a dead... Wall, tagger. Yeah. He beat up a couple of wall taggers who were teasing him and may have accidentally ended up killing one.

Whoops. Thankfully, as far as things went down officially, and as far as anyone else knew, he was defending himself. Nobody had to know he went a little to far when the shivs got taken out... Good thing nobody was watching.

[miyake mikio]

CONSEQUENCES BE DAMNED In a truly remarkable display of the city-dweller’s tenacity in the face of the terrifying and inconvenient, the panic and hubbub around this vicious puma attack immediately subsided as Mikio came skipping along in Maru’s wake. As soon as fluffy pink ears and a long swishy tail were sighted, the average Amegakure citizen rolled their eyes and exhaled with world-weary annoyance: of course it would be a foreigner causing such a ruckus with her wild animal running rampant. Just like that the chaos subsided and the crowds moved along, neatly skirting around the girl and her cat and his prey as though they were mere irritants to the eye. "Asthma?” Mikio tilted her head, her eyes owlishly round as she considered the question posed to her. "Mimi had a cousin with asthma. He wheezed and coughed a lot so it was pretty easy to tell when Mimi wasn’t supposed to be hitting him anymore.” A beat, then: "What guys?” Maru backed up, parking his butt on Taro’s ankles, and sniffed curiously at his stomach. Whiskers twitching, a pink tongue poked out from between his teeth, looking alarmingly like he was about to lick whatever smelled so delicious around Taro’s gut. Another beat. Mikio frowned and stepped closer, holding her umbrella out and overhead until it was only kind of covering all three of the trio, and all of them were still mostly just getting wet. "Ta-ko hasn’t really been around,” she said, her lip stiffening in a show of true bravery. "Mimi-chan went on a mission with team three and Ta-ko wasn’t there. Did you die?” Gima Taro -- 268

MADE BY NIGHTBLOOM

[Gima Taro]

Ah. Okay, so Taro learned a few things in a very short period of time.

One: Mikio did not, infact, know about the dead guy, and Two: This cat wasn't going to let him leave. Great. He was going to be late for his training. He grumbled, but shook his head, water slapping down onto his face as he finally spoke to the youthful pinkette.

"Just a couple of thugs. The usual punks..." He probably should have considered the guy coughing, but he thought that was just because he punched him really, really hard.

Her ability to use an umbrella was... Not very good. He sighed, staring up at her as she asked if he had died. He looked down at his arms, to his hands, then back up to the woman.

"Maybe. Do I look like a ghost?" He smirked.

"No. I've just... I'm practicing new techniques. And I can't practice them in public. Can you uh. Keep Maru from eating me please?" He asked, chuckling a bit as he pushed himself up to his elbows, glancing around to make sure nobody else was looking at them funny.

He'd be looking at them funny, that's for sure.

[miyake mikio]

CONSEQUENCES BE DAMNED Mikio paused to consider what the usual punks might be, the cogs in her head visibly churning as she tried to draw the lines between asthma and accidents and whatever it was that Maru was so enticed by around Taro’s midsection. After a long twenty seconds she gave up. "Mimi-chan has never seen a ghost before,” she said somberly. "Ta-ko could be one for all Mimi knows.” As if to prove his reality to herself she stooped down, offering a hand to help the boy to his feet. She nudged Maru out of the way with the side of her foot, rescuing Taro from the drool beginning to slip from Maru’s jaws. They were certainly being looked at funny, but if Mikio was aware, she didn’t seem to care; she had more important things to focus on right now. "Maru-chan, go home to momma, okay?” she said to the puma. "Thank you for helping Mimi, you’ve been a very good boy.” Maru looked momentarily disappointed, and gave one last longing look to the wound he could smell behind Taro’s clothing before plodding back off into the shadows and side streets. "Is Ta-ko going to practice now?” Mikio asked, tilting her head. With Maru gone she could more carefully center the umbrella over both their heads, covering them both—not that it mattered much now, since her back half was already completely soaked. "Mimi-chan is really good at keeping a secret! Let me help!” Gima Taro -- 246

MADE BY NIGHTBLOOM

[Gima Taro]

Taro glanced down, still nervous, over the cat that wanted a snack out of his tummy- Or the knife wound in his gut. Either or, you couldn't have it, it was his. Silly cat...

Not that he dared tell a cat what they could or couldn't have, that was just a good way to get them even more determined to have it. Which is why when he looked up at Mikio, he realized quite quickly that trying to hide what he was doing was having the opposite effect.

Not that they were bad or anything- They deserved an answer like anyone else- But, in truth, Taro wasn't sure how... Secretive, he had to be about his training yet. He hadn't asked. Not because he didn't want to ask, but more so because... He forgor.

Still, the Umbrella was a nice touch as it covered them, even if they were both already soaked in rain. He wiped the rain off his face, as he glanced around at all the people giving them funny looks. Anyone who did got a snarl looking face from Taro- Most of these people didn't know him, but anyone who did know Taro knew that mocking his friends was a good way to get your ass kicked in the middle of the night.

"I was going to practice, but..." He looked down at his side, cupping the injury for a moment. "I think I need to repack my wound... Um... Maybe we could find a warm place to do so?" As much as he wanted to do so out in the rain where he had been assaulted...

Well, he wouldn't mind catching up with Mimi over some warm tea or something. He owed her that much, at the very least- She was a good person, she deserved answers.

[miyake mikio]

CONSEQUENCES BE DAMNED "A warm place…” Mikio rose up on her tiptoes and looked around, frowning as she tried to figure out exactly what street they were on, and where that was in relation to anywhere else. She’d followed Maru all the way here, and naturally Maru would be able to make his way home following his excellent sniffer, but Mikio realized now that she was well and truly lost. Downtown was about all she was able to figure out. Squinting through the heavy rainfall, she eventually spotted the tell-tale glowing sign featuring a steaming mug: a local chain of cafes that she liked, cozy and warm and full of yummy pastries. "Let’s go—” Mikio fell back on her heels and looked back at Taro cupping the wound on his side, the slowly-churning cogs in her mind finally catching up. "Wound!? Ta-ko, what happened?? We have to fix you right now!!” She grabbed the boy by the wrist and forcibly dragged him towards the glowing beacon of tea and pastries. She was surprisingly strong for such a petite young woman, though Taro would have seen her in action a time or two, enough to know that she could be a force to be reckoned with when she wasn’t too busy scampering around with her students. Closing her umbrella with a deft maneuver and showering them both with rainwater in the process, Mikio barged through the entrance to the cafe, the door’s bell jangling loudly with the aggressive movement. "Excuse me!” she called as she dragged Taro inside. Luckily, it was mostly empty within, though the boy behind the counter looked somewhat shell-shocked at the appearance of the two shinobi. "Mimi-chan and Ta-ko need a first aid kid and two cups of hot brown sugar black tea and whatever pastries you think are yummiest, please!” She sat Taro down at a little table and dragged her own chair to be directly beside him, her knees knocking against his as she gestured impatiently towards his midsection. "Show me,” she demanded. Her brow creased, she worried her lower lip with one sharp canine, and her nose twitched as she sniffed the air as if trying to ascertain how bad the injury was by smell alone. Gima Taro -- 371

MADE BY NIGHTBLOOM

[Gima Taro]

Taro glanced up shakily at Mimi. She was... Hrm. She was looking out for him. Why did she do that? Momo he could understand, but Mimi? ... Did he really deserve that? Any of that?

When she noticed his wound, finally- He cringed. Damnit. He was really trying to hide that... Which begged the question why he told her about it in the first place. Idiot. He clutched his side as he was dragged towards the pastry shop, he let out a soft groan as he decided... Yeah, she didn't need to know he was fighting MORE people.

"I just... Fell... Down some stairs..." That sounded like a good excuse. In his country bumpkin head, he'd never heard that saying before, so it seemed like it would totally work. Then again, with Mimi? It was 50-50.

Regardless, they were both splashed with water -AGAIN- as he was tugged into the building. He was impressed with her strength- Even if he wasn't so happy with how he was being handled... Or the rain all over him. She sat him down at a table and knee tapped him.

It was... Odd. Maybe the blood loss was getting to his head, but something about the way she just... Took control there... He shook his head. Snap out of it, she's looking at your wounds. He didn't want to upset the cat anymore, so he nodded slowly, pulled up his shirt, and...

Ouch. A nasty gash along his side- It wasn't too deep, just the fat, but it bled quite a bit- The bandage job Taro had done on himself completely undone by some fun puma pouncing behavior.

"Y-You don't gotta do this for me... I-I can pack my own wound, you know..." He said, stuttering a bit. That must have been the bloodloss.

It had to be.

"A-At least let me pay for the food..." He panted.

[miyake mikio]

CONSEQUENCES BE DAMNED The poor bobarista made some soft, timid noises about health hazards and needing to call the cleaners, but Mimi wasn’t paying attention to him at all aside from a brief thank you as he brought the shop’s first aid kid over to her. She pawed through its contents, pulling out gauze and sticky medical tape and little pre-packaged antiseptic wipes from its confines. Taro pulled up his shirt to show her the damage and she hissed faintly, her ears flattening against her skull as her face screwed up with distress. "Ta-ko, this is bad,” she said plaintively, lightly touching the drying blood around the raw edge of the gash. "This is gonna sting, okay?” She barely waited for confirmation before starting to clean him up, wiping away the excess and disinfecting the site of the wound before beginning to dress it. There was no real finesse to it—she was clearly not a trained medic—but she’d retained enough of her basic first aid training to be able to do this much with sure, confident movements. Her touch was gentle, firm enough to get the job done but not so harsh that she caused Taro unnecessary pain. That lone sharp canine dug into her lower lip as she worried it. Mikio quietly assented to Taro’s insistence of paying in the way of someone saying yes to a question they hadn’t actually heard. As she began to tape the gauze into place, using way more medical tape than was actually necessary, she looked intently into Taro’s eyes with a wide golden gaze. "Sensei-chan says that if a student looks really beat up and tells Mimi they fell down the stairs, then Mimi should ask them if everything is okay at home,” she said, suddenly very serious and intense. "Ta-ko, is everything okay at home? If your parents or brothers or girlfriends are being mean or cruel to you, you can tell me, okay?” Gima Taro -- 328

MADE BY NIGHTBLOOM

[Gima Taro]

And sting it did. Youch. Thankfully for Mikio, Taro was built tough- Not in that he was rock solid or anything, but more so that he could take stinging pains and injuries that would leave others gasping for air with little more then a grunt of affirmation.

It was something he was pretty proud of. Or well, he should have been, at least. He watched her way overtreat his injuries, not that he could really blame her- He didn't expect some sort of medical expert here- But he did feel a little bad for the bobarista, who was probably going to need to buy a new medkit. All in all, these consequences felt far heavier than the simple injury, though again, he felt a bit of flutter at her affirmative action.

Dang. Was it that common of a saying? He should have just gone with a workplace accident. Probably better. He sighed regardless, looking over the concerned pinkette as he placed a hand on her shoulder a little weakly.

"Thanks, Mimi. No, everything's fine- My parents love me. My brother loves me. I don't have a girlfriend...s?" Did she just use plural for girlfriend? He shook his head.

"Just got in a bit of a scrap. I get in a lot of those, you know? It just happens, when you're someone like me." He explained. That wasn't to garner pity, either- That was an actual honest complaint of himself being kind of a jerkwad to people he didn't know- Toxic, in a sense.

Luckily, Mimi was completely immune to that. If anything, she had a strange tendency to make his day a little better every time she showed up. At least when she wasn't drenching him with water or sicking her cats to pounce on him. Plus, the way she took action, didn't take 'no' for an answer often, the way she was nosey... It was kind of endearing.

He smiled at her, though she probably didn't know what for, as he leaned against the table.

"We should probably... Buy something nice, at least. W-What's your favorite sweet? My treat. I promise." He nodded. He wasn't in any danger of bleeding out now- Not that he really ever was, but... He felt a lot of guilty, and... Why not use this to an advantage?

"We can catch up over it." He added. He gave her an offer. She let him buy her a delicious sweet... And he'd tell her what really happened.

[miyake mikio]

CONSEQUENCES BE DAMNED "No girlfriends?” Mimi tilted her head, puzzled by this revelation. "But Ta-ko is so cute! Like, umm…” She pondered on this for a moment, considering Taro’s potential romantic connections. "Sakanawa-chan, from team one? Momo-chan? That other girl, the mean one on team two? And Oriko-chan is super pretty! Ta-ko could have lots of girlfriends and boyfriends if he tried!” Whatever fantasy world of polyamorous bliss that she imagined Taro was living it, she was disappointed to find out it wasn’t real—but that disappointment was quickly washed away by sincere joy that he wasn’t getting the crap beat out of him at home. "Scraps are okay!” she said, nodding decisively as she placed one final, unnecessary piece of medical tape over Taro’s gauzed-up wound. "Mimi-chan gets into lots of scraps too. So Mimi and Ta-ko must be the same!” Her semi-frequent tussles were less because of any inherent bad attitude and more because she had something of a habit of ending up in unusual places—Amegakure’s seedy back alleys were no place for a petite young catgirl, and those who looked to prey on someone they thought vulnerable were quick to meet the sharp end of a fickle, vicious claw. Once she was satisfied with the inch-thick layer of tape and gauze that covered Taro’s wound, she straightened up and let him put his shirt down—though she didn’t move away, instead idly bouncing her knee against Taro’s as she packed up the first-aid kit and put everything neatly back where it needed to go. She licked away the small droplets of blood that had found their way onto her fingers and craned her head around to look for the bobarista. "Mimi isn’t picky,” she said absently, "but the boy—oh!” The worker-boy, still looking shell-shocked, was bringing over two steaming cups of brown sugar black tea and a pair of delicate, flaky pastries topped with what looked like some kind of red fruit jam and a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Mikio beamed at the boy and offered up the first aid kit in return. "Thank you so much!” she said, utterly oblivious to the havoc she had wreaked into this poor boy’s day, and more than content to enjoy her special little treat now that the crisis of Taro’s wound had passed. "Catch up?” she asked, once she had turned back. "Tell Mimi about your secret training! And the scrap you got into!” Gima Taro -- 399

MADE BY NIGHTBLOOM

[Gima Taro]

Of all the things to be worried about... His relationship status? Taro cocked an eyebrow at Mikio as he scratched at the back of his head awkwardly. He rarely thought about things like romance, so... The idea of it even coming to him was... Well, it made him think for a moment over each of the suggestions she gave.

"Well... I haven't really talked much to Tsuri... And she's a bit young..." He explained with a sigh. "I'm eighteen after all, I can't be going after teenagers-- Even if something like that was something I cared about." He shrugged.

"Momo... Is a good friend. That's all." Ouch. Friendzoned. Though in Taro's defense, she could probably break him like a pretzel, so he wasn't really interested in trying to romance such a girl. Kind of scary.

"The others... I mean, I've talked to Sadako before. But she's more like a... Sister, in my eyes, then any sort of... Interest like that. Also, again? Way to young." He explained.

"...I don't know what I'm explaining all of this. Romance... Mrm, at the end of the day, I just haven't found someone to dedicate myself too... And... Nobody has asked me out, so..." He shrugged. He wasn't against it, he just wasn't actively searching for it. That said, glancing over the catgirl before him, she was rather pretty... And she did often have his back... Hrm.

"Also, you only have one, boyfriend or girlfriend, Mimi. Well, most, anyways." He explained, scratching behind his head again as food was brought to them. Ah, good. He was starving. Maybe because of the blood loss. Okay, a lot because of the blood loss. At least his injuries were... Fixed, though? Kind of?

He took down some of the food. He didn't care how it tasted- It was fine to him, he wasn't a picky eater- And as he chewed away he rumbled happily. Drinks and food... He'd have to pay extra ryo for this, but, he didn't mind. He did say he'd pick up the bill, right?

"...And... Don't lick up my blood. That's kind of gross, Mimi." He pointed out as he took another bite of his pastry. "You don't know where that stuffs been."

"Anyways... Mrm... I can't tell you too much about my training- At least until its complete, but... It was just a little fight. Some guys were picking on me and... Well, you know the deal. I don't get pushed around by anyone." Except for Mimi, apparently.

"I won, if it makes you feel any better." Duh.

[miyake mikio]

CONSEQUENCES BE DAMNED Mikio’s tail lashed to and fro and she considered the aged wisdom that Taro was laying upon her. Self-reflection and rumination were not things that came naturally to her; she was an impulsive creature, flitting from one interest to the next with not a single speck of narrative cohesion to be found. Her mental state was as red yarn tacked to a corkboard: a typhoon of curiosities to keep even the most ardent conspiracy theorist occupied for months. But Taro gave her food for thought. Sharp canines cleaved through delicate, powder-sweet dough, a smear of red jam staining her lip as she chewed thoughtfully. "It was inside Ta-ko,” she said, swiping the jam off with her thumb and licking it away as cleanly as she had Taro’s blood. "So Mimi knows exactly where it’s been.” As if that somehow rationalized her decision—it came from Taro, so it must have been fine. Her logic was sound, infallible. She visibly deflated, clearly disappointed to know that she wasn’t about to be brought in on some top-secret training gossip, but she stiffened her lip and put on a brave face in light of this terrible revelation. "That’s okay,” she said, "just tell Mimi when you’re ready! We can help if you want—Azuki and Maru and me.” Barely a beat, a breath, and she was moving on to the next car in her train of thought. "Did Ta-ko kill them?” she asked, as dispassionately as one might ask about the weather. She blew gently on her tea to cool it. "Maru likes to hunt, mostly, but he also likes to scavenge when he can…” Gima Taro -- 270

MADE BY NIGHTBLOOM

[Gima Taro]

Yeah, inside of Taro wasn't exactly the cleanest body in the world. While he wasn't dirty on purpose, his nature as a sage apprentice of... Well, rats, often meant he found himself getting dirty more then he should. Oh well. He probably didn't have any blood born diseases. Yet.

Watching her deflate had him roll his eyes, however.

"Listen, Mimi. It's not you, it's just- This is pretty low down stuff. I'm not really supposed to talk about it. At all." He sighed. "When it's complete though, and I'm all trained? I can come and tell you all about it. You don't unwrap a present before your birthday, right?" An old adage that was probably completely lost on Mimi, but oh well.

"That said... You can still help me train, if you want- You know. When I'm a little better." He frowned, looking down at his overly packed injury.

"And little breaks like this always help. If you hadn't come along, I probably would have spent the rest of the day training anyways, so it's not like this changes mu-" She asked if he killed them. He hissed, gritting his teeth as he glanced off to the side.

"I hope not. One of them seemed kind of sickly, but I tried to hold back... Not that I'm against killing or anything." He took the tea, blowing on it himself to sip it down.

"But I'd rather not kill anyone from our own village. Even if they deserve it. It's... A matter of principle, to me." He shrugged.

[miyake mikio]

CONSEQUENCES BE DAMNED Mikio maintained a stiff upper lip, deciding to be very brave and stoic in the face of this incredibly disappointing news—that Taro had secret training that he has abandoned their team for. But that was his choice, and even if Mikio didn’t like it, she had to live with it. She did perk up, however, when he said that she could help. She beamed at him, red jam smeared on one of her sharp canines. "I will!! Ta-ko will be better in no time and then Mimi and Maru can help lots!!” Absolutely thrilled by this, Mikio chomped down on the rest of her pastry. She was utterly unconcerned with the fate of the people who had attacked Taro—things like morality and justice and laws rarely entered her thought process—but right as she was about to respond with something cheerfully deranged about predators defending their territory, she cut herself off, her eyes growing wide and round and wet with sudden emotion. "Our village?” Mikio echoed. She looked a little lost, a little unsure of herself, suddenly. It wasn’t a feeling she knew how to put into words—too much, all at once. Tears welled up, the overflow spilling down her cheeks and onto the pastry in her hand. "You think Ta-ko and Mimi are from the same village?” Gima Taro -- 229

MADE BY NIGHTBLOOM