Having fully intended to slip out, grab a bite of something healthier ( than the fast-or-instant food diet he’s been subsisting on lately, at least ) to eat and head straight back to the dorm, it’s with a politely irritated look on his face that Lee’s been stuck on this side of the street for the last fifteen minutes. Distracted as he is, the blond quite literally stiffens at the foreign touch.
“Shi — ” He catches himself mid-word, shoulders relaxing and an automatic grin taking form. “Whoa. My bad, I was totally spacing out there. Afraid I can’t help you with a detour — if I knew one, I’d have been out of here ages ago.” Lips twist into a good-natured grimace. “As much as I love seeing happy people, I have a paper due in two hours that has yet to be started. Sorry, buddy.”
( 勝雄 ) Paper? The other must have meant something for school, somewhere Katsuo had never gone to. Still, he understood the feeling of being dragged away from work that had to be done, even if he couldn’t get irritated at most of the causes. If only the parade had come at a more convenient time, then they both could have been more content.
“Ah, sorry.” As unnecessary as the apology was, it slipped out anyway as the blacksmith glanced around. Maybe if Ryoko had been there, she’d think of some way to get around it, but he was at a loss. The parade ran down the very long main road; one could try to walk down and find a place to cut through, albeit it’d probably be a waste of time. “I’m sure flying would be useful right about now…”
A marketplace wasn’t the weirdest place for a runaway demon to hide, but it was definitely irritating to find one in a heavy crowd like this. And it’s a shapeshifter too… jeez. Kohaku clicked her tongue in irritation. Find it was going to be a pain. Killing it would be a pain too since she couldn’t exactly stab it in the open. She wandered around a little until she was able to find a less crowd area and approach what she figured was a merchant. “Hey lady, you see anyone weird around here, like really shifty?” She asked.
( 亮子 ) Ryoko couldn’t say the greeting impressed her too much. Taking in the girl, she narrowed her eyes a tad. Something obscure caught her interest, but she couldn’t quite put a finger on it; however, it gave the impression that the usage of the word shifty had some extra significance. “And if I have?” the merchant questioned in return. “I deal with whatever steps into my shop. Outside of it is no business of mine.” She picked up a nearby knife, running a cloth over it to clean off any dust, though her eyes didn’t stray from the other.
“It’s pretty easy to pick up when you need it as often as I do.” It wasn’t the most refined technique, given, but hell if it wasn’t effective. There were few quicker teachers than necessity. Reznik stepped in the opposite direction as the fleeing men, bringing him a few steps closer to the stranger. “I don’t know if I’d call it impressive, though.”
( 亮子 )
“Saved me the trouble of doing it myself.” Ryoko gave a shrug at that as she kept her eyes on the other’s movements. Sometimes walking alone brought trouble in the form of common thugs, and while she normally dealt with them herself, the male had managed to jump in first. “So thank you.” Taking a step towards him, she held out a hand.
Perhaps he already knew she was there. Perhaps he did not. Either way, Erika had been peeking inside of the small workshop for some time, standing on a trashcan just outside of the window. Watching, deliberating.
Spying.
“How long did it take for you to learn how to do those things?”
( 勝雄 ) Maybe in the back of his mind, Katsuo had sensed the eyes on him, although the feeling must have been brushed off if that were the case. Either way, he heard the voice over the music and the pounding of metal, both of which came to a halt as he became aware of the other person. He glanced out the window to see the female peeking in, and he pulled off his gloves before walking out of the workshop and approaching her.
“How long did it take me… to learn how to blacksmith? Well, I’ve been learning since I was a kid, so…” He took a moment to figure out the math. “Fourteen years?”
