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[ Criminals are still criminals, Tsukasa. Just because they're people doesn't mean they shouldn't pay for their wrongdoings, and a nice cozy basement with warm drinks and snacks teaches no lessons. ]

Did you put them in jail? [ The jail that's not really a jail.

She sets her basket on the counter and grabs cups for them. ]

My dear Tsukasa, you would look fetching in a skirt. You have beautiful features. If I haven't told you before, I'm telling you now.

[ She leans into his personal space, the way she usually does when she wants to bully someone. Her eyes focus on him. ]

[ Sometimes the drinks are cold. Does that help.

Tsukasa clears his throat, knowing it's totally futile to try and lean away from her when he is sort of, essentially, trapped against the counter. ]

I, uh... [ ...his best friend is the worstttttt, he's gonna clap his hands on her face-cheeks and squish them. squish-squish. ] You're awful, don't tease me like that. You know as well as I do there's no competing with anyone in town, most of all with you.

[ He's so lucky he's one of her oldest and dearest friends. Her smile in response isn't dangerous in the least. It's just sweet and almost impish. She laughs softly as he squishes her cheeks. ]

You flatter me too much. You're a little too easy to tease sometimes, but it's one of the things I like best about you.

[ She reaches up to ruffle his bangs a little. ]

Don't be so embarrassed and accept that you can be charming.

[ Hey... he'll accept that he guesses, even if he's pouting her. ]

You're the only one who thinks so. [ well her and like, Okuni. But Okuni's also....... Okuni. ] ...You have to let me go, Shishi~. The kettle's nearly there.

[ Let him make them tea and then she can fuss at him for his leg, which is, by the way, getting a little sore and stiff from standing for so long. He wants to sit down. ]

[ Shouldn't the opinion of two of the prettiest girls in town account for something, Tsukasa? Even if they're scary and chaotic. ]

... There's something else that's nearly there. You have two more minutes for me to keep calling you charming before I retract it.

[ She was giving him a chance to confess to his crimes.

Her smile is now notably the smile she wears when she's less than pleased. ]

[ .........................ahaha. ]

I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, Shishi. ♪ [ Nope. None at all. He'll pat her head. ] Go sit down, okay? You seemed really tired when you came in... You've probably been really busy, right? The town's been such a mess after all. Sit, sit. Let your charming Tsukasa take care of the rest.

[ Her smile spells D A N G E R. Not even being her dearest childhood friend gives him immunity from having it beamed his way. ]

Sweet, charming Tsukasa. I'll sit down, but I bet you want to sit down more.

[ She amazingly gives him space and goes sit down, but that also means she has space to let her anger simmer. She doesn't want him to lie to her over something like this. ]

[ He waits until she's out of sight to breathe a sigh of relief, leaning his weight more on the counter. He... really shouldn't lie to her (he's a pretty bad liar in the first place, anyway), but it's somehow better than the alternative of worrying her.

...Not that he manages to stop that either, he guesses. He takes a few extra minutes with the tea (it's a very nice kind Xie Lian gave him when he visited the Xian Le temple not too long ago - a Baihao Yinzhen), mostly spent stalling in the kitchen as he mulls over what to tell her.

He just scraped it badly? He sprained it? Ah, she probably won't believe either of those... ]

...Tea's ready, [ probably much too soon for either of their tastes, but he'll set the tray down on the table and press a quick kiss to her temple (apologetically) before he hurries his way to his own seat. It's harder to hide his slight limp like that, but his shoulders visibly relax once he's sitting down.

Yes, he really needed that, and he keeps his eyes closed. Not. Really wanting to see her expression. He's not afraid of her, per se, but growing up means he has a healthy amount of knowledge as to what she's like when she's angry and disappointed. ] Um... Please enjoy. Xie Lian gifted me this tea when Shishimaru and I visited him not too long ago... It's a very good one. I think it'll pair nicely with your food.

[ She picks up the tea, and there's no tremor in her movements, no ripple in the surface of the tea, as she brings it smoothly to her lips. ]

A white tea will complement it nicely. It's very delicate.

[ She agrees. That's the one thing she agrees on so far. ]

Won't you tell me what happened?

[ He can't dodge it forever, not when when she can see the relief from pain once he's off his feet. ]

[ Tsukasa opens his mouth and shuts it again not a moment later; he slowly opens an eye to study her before he shuts that again, too, and just holds his own tea in his hands. The warmth's always calmed him down.

Yeah, there's no way she'd believe anything except the truth. He won't even try. People like his honesty for some reason, anyway. ]

...We were investigating something and we went into some dogs' territory. That's all. Shishimaru's not much better than I am. [ franchan has just been very tragically sick!! rip... ] It isn't that bad though, promise. It's just, mmm. A pain.

[ and all of that isn't the whole truth, but it covers "what happened" fine enough. ]

[ She knows enough of telling partial truths and not full truths. It's not like she's come to him about what she's found out about the kidnappings. That's why she can tell, and that's why it makes her heart heavy, her sadness visible in how there is no smile reflected in her tea. ]

You'd have to avoid me for weeks, if you didn't want me to know you were hurt at all.

[ She's a doctor with sharp eyes, much more observant than she has the right to be. ]

If Shishimaru hasn't been looked at yet, recommend Itaru to him.

I will. Chiga... um, Itaru, obviously looked after me too.

[ Another peek - longer this time, lips pursing. Mm. ]

It... wasn't anything really that bad. Investigating-wise. We were looking into connections between the murders of the Xian Le heads and my uncle, and we wandered into Mori territory. [ should there be any connections, that is. And Hey! maybe. ] We didn't come back empty-handed at least... People figured out we were snooping and set guard dogs on us - we really should've made sure to cover our tracks... Our bad.

[ their fault, so in some way, getting a little bit up is deserved. ]

...That's more of the whole truth, so please don't look so down, Shishi. I promise that's as reckless as I've been this week.

Edited 2020-02-08 07:17 (UTC)

Guard dogs?

[ That gets her to raise her eyes and look at him, concern causing a crease between her brows. ]

How severe was the wound? [ It has to be bad in some capacity if it's making him limp and want to keep his weight off it. ] I don't think you're quick to endanger your life, but your goodness makes you too stubborn sometimes.

[ Foolhardy, she means. ]

I'm glad you're safe. [ Even if he's not uninjured. They could've unloaded a clip of bullets into him. Either family could. ]

You're not going to believe me if I tell you it wasn't that bad.

[ ...He rarely has a frame of reference for "bad" though, so he'll just move chairs so he can roll up his pants leg really carefully and unwrap the bandages to let her see.

And, as far as "guard dog mangling" goes, it isn't that bad. They're some pretty bad bites, but it bled a lot worse than it looks on the outside. He probably could benefit from some stitches with the depth of some of it, but as a whole - he'll heal, with time. As long as he doesn't, say, stress it out too much doing things like investigating or breaking into places!! Haha. ]

You shouldn't worry so much, Shishi. I can take care of myself, you know. I'm not that much of a greenhorn.

What you consider bad when it comes to yourself and what I do are almost always two different things.

[ That's just how they're going to be, more concerned about each other than themselves.

She looks and examines his wounds closely, making sure not to touch them. ]

I'll always worry about you. The only way I won't is if I'm dead. This could've been a lot worse, but please don't do anything to aggravate it. Make sure to rest properly.

[ He sips his tea finally, hmming. ]

...Sure. [ That's not very reassuring, so he clears his throat and tries again. ] I mean- I will, Shishi. Don't worry. I don't really have any plans this week except making my usual rounds, and I'll try to keep out of trouble.

[ like at least the, uh, exacerbating wounds type of trouble anyway. ]

Thank you for the second opinion. Your cousin was curious as to why I didn't just go to you instead of him, you know. [ which is like... fair, but. he pets her head gently with a sigh. ] Sorry. Should I have?

[ Tsukasa gets so many privileges being her childhood friend. It's incredible.

Once she's satisfied by the state of his injury, she takes his bandages from him to rewrap them. Ideally, she'd redress them with new bandages, but it can wait a little while. ]

... You're not obligated to. It's not a requirement of our friendship. I, at least, would have liked to have been told something happened.

[ More than having him try to hide it from her to keep her from worrying when she'd see soon enough, it would have been nice to hear it without pressing him for it. ]

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