The End of the Day

Mearii had headed outside the village to get away from the noise for a while. She was sitting against a tree, facing the vast forest that seemed to never end. The village wasn't in sight, but it was only down the path, which was easy for her to find. She was enjoying the silence. She moved her hair out of her face as she yawned slightly.

The wind moved past her, heading toward the direction of the village, and it put her at ease. She closed her eyes for only a second... and reopened them, narrowing them. She could hear someone walking in her direction. She kept herself still and silent, listening to who it might be. She didn't activate Ishikigan, but she was still listening around herself.

"...Who's there?" she demanded firmly.

Ronin had been at work all day training on some dummy's he fashioned out of trees for himself so they could resist being cut, or so he though until splitting one open with his wakizashi earlier that day, He way a little sweaty still but the day was nearing its end and it cooled down a bit, the hair no longer matted down to his forehead and neck, it would bounce and sway freely side to side as Ronin walked down the path, arms up in the air and resting hands on his neck as if stretching. His Wakizashi set just below his waist line on the right side of his hip and a pair of sia's on each of his mid-calfs, for quick drawing access.

Ronin was headed home to take a shower then maybe out for a night on the town for some food. His eyes were wide open but his stride was rather laid back as if not expecting to see anyone else on the path. after only a few minutes of walking he hear a voice, which was surprising because he had been out a 2 or 3 minutes walk from konoha at that point, this caught him off guard however he didn't lose his cool for the voice sounded farmiliar, Ronin responded naturally "This is Ronin...and you are?" his voice trailed off as he awaited a reply.

Mearii listened to how he would respond and then took a deep sigh in relief, "Okay, it's just you. It's Mearii." she responded cooly, before leaning back against the tree. She didn't wait to see if he'd come out, but she listened to see if he would respond or walk in her direction. She stretched her arms up in the air for the time being.

"What are you doing outside the village? You sound a little bit worked up," she pursed her lips, waiting for a response. She kept her hazel eyes opened, away from the sunlight that beamed through the trees. She kept it in the direction of his voice though, waiting for a reply.

Ronin had kept walking, apparently there were only a few trees that blocked the view of the two, Ronin came around the bend and turned to his right so that he was now facing Mearii. Ronin dropped his arms down by his sides, twisting at the hip both ways trying to crack his back while he began to speak, "Oh, hey Mearii." Ronin took a moment or two as he blind and arched his back one more as if trying to get a sore spot out. "Me, oh i was just taking a personal training day, work on my handling and speed." Ronin shrugged and grinned for a moment as if he didn't know what to say then he spoke again," Yeah its some pretty intense stuff, i would have asked Kimo to join me but i dont think he could keep up, i prefer to train alone anyway."

Mearii laughed at his comment about Kimo. She could picture Kimo trying to chase after him, but tried to keep the laughter quiet. She sighed lightly, looking up at the trees for a moment, unsure what to say at first. She let her arms rest in her lap as she then looked to Ronin, "Sounds like an interesting day. I've been lacking in my training... if my father was still around I'd probably be taking intense training every day that I'm not busy," she pursed her lips. Talking about her father made her smile lightly, but in the same way, made her feel a bit low. She hadn't talked about her family in forever. It's been a year now since they had disappeared.

"Anyways, whatever with those thoughts. What do you plan on doing later?" she asked out of curiosity. In all honesty, she was bored to death, and was just looking for someone to follow around for the rest of the day. She wasn't going to deliberately ask him if she could tag along though. She just wanted to know if what he was doing sounded interesting at all.

Ronin listened intentfully although he had little to say right now, at least not before his shower, he cherished showers they always made him feel better, more relaxed and in a good mood. Mearii explained to him how she would have trained had he father been around and she had the time, Ronin nodded to this in approval, He smiled as she threw away her thoughts and asked what was going on, " Well im going home to take a shower, probably fix up a few things and do some laundry then head out, i have making my own food and my parents food isnt the greatest so ill probably be going out somewhere after dark, i dont like eating while the sun is still up, wanna come with me?"

Mearii blinked, contemplating for a moment on if she was up to what he was doing later. She took a moment, looking down and thinking about if she was busy at night. Nothing seemed to be popping up though. "Alright. When you're done with your shower and everything, stop by my apartment. I'll probably be on the balcony, so you won't need to go in and find me. It's on the way to the main square anyways, so yeah." she nodded, looking back up at him, "Should we invite Kimo, or leave him out this time?" she laughed slightly.

Ronin listened to Meariis instructions and took a second to scratch the back of his head. He smiled "Well then i guess ill come by and get you, oh and one more question, who's Kimo?" Ronin smirked.

Mearii watched the smirk on his face and smiled smugly, looking down, understanding where he was going with this. Sometimes it was better to leave Kimo out of certain situations. She got herself up and started to walk toward the village, "I'm gonna head back to my place and put on some normal clothes. Seeya later," she walked off.

Ronin watch her walk away with her last words, hey may have mumbled bye but he was stretching at the moment and a bit tired but a good ole shower should wake him right up. He waved bye to her also then got on his way home. After a few minutes of walking Ronin got home but said nothing to his parents other then "im going out in a few" then rushed upstairs to go clean up and change.

Mearii had gone to her solitary apartment to freshen up. She got out of her usual apparel, which was her combat uniform of the purple tunic with black shorts and corsette. Reaching into her closet, she found something else to wear. Putting on her regular free-day outfit, she felt more comfortable. It consisted of a black, ruffled short skirt with black sandals, a purple V-Neck, a black, sleevless vest. Sitting by the balcony, she left it opened slightly, listening for anyone who might come by.

Ronin quickly took a shower and got out, slipping into some cloths he threw out on his bed prior to his shower. He wore a rather old white T-shirt, although there were no stains, overtop a dark blue tunic with cut off sleeves, brownish black pants that he normally wore that had its own pouch for tools, he wore his normal straw sandals and threw on a black hoodie with a leaf ninja symbol on both the front and back. Ronin made his way out the door before his parents could ask him any questions. He made his way to Meariis house, seeing her from a distance standing where she said she would be as he approached silently, assuming she would notice him, after all he was the only one out there at the time.

Mearii was sitting againts the glass sliding door to her balcony, facing the inside of her house. She was watching the clock on her wall tick silently, unsure what to do. She sighed in boredom, looking around in curiosity for something to pass the time. She felt too lazy to get herself up though, continuing to wait.

Mearii narrowed her eyes, listening around herself. Her kekkei genkai allowed her to listen more intently, and it made her a very cautious person, even within town. She waited silently, acting as though she hadn't noticed anything, continuing to sit still, tapping her fingers on the floor.

Ronin waited just below the balcony just standing there for a moment, which seemed like an eternity of awkwardness until he spoke, "Mearii i know you know im here!" he called out to here laughing a little. Ronin stood looking up to see if he could see hear as he waited for his reply, he placed his hands in his pockets and cracked his back quietly.

Mearii smirked lightly and couldn't help but start laughing when she heard Ronin's impatientness. She immediately jumped down from the balcony, stanting in front of him, leaning against one of the columns holding the balconies up. "You know how I am. I don't like when people sneak up on me," she pressed her lips into a small smile. She looked around, seeing that it was sunset, "These parts usually get routy at night, so we should hurry into the main area before all the creepers stroll in."

Ronin listened to Mearii from up on her balcony as if she were talking down to him which only really bothered him in the back of his mind, he hated it when people talked down to him but she wasnt literally doing it. Ronin took a step or two back to get a better look at her from where he was because where he had been, the floor of the balcony had literally been blocking each others sight. Ronin smiled and said, "Sure lets get going shall we? Just as soon as you get down here." Ronin jested a little.

Mearii jumped down and stood in front of him, rubbing one of her eyes. She wasn't smiling anymore, having more of a grave expression. She wasn't upset by anything, but her smile just vanished overtime. She looked around for a moment and then to Ronin, "After you then," she waited for him to lead the way, barely smiling.

Ronin looked at Mearii for a short moment as she rubbed her eyes but then he felt it would get awkward if he was staring at her in silence. Ronin started to walk away and turned around to walk backwards facing Mearii and holding a hand out as he made his way down the path. He smiled slightly, "Come on then, you look tired."

Mearii looked up at him for a moment and laughed awkwardly as she finished rubbing her eyes. She grabbed his hand gently and looked around for a moment, "I'm not exactly tired, just a little outwinded, I suppose," she kept a small smile on her face. She continued to walk barely behind him, looking around the area as the sky grew darker.

As soon as Ronin felt her hand in his he immediately picked up the pace a little, letting her walk behind him for a but but soon he pulled her up even with him, so they could seem as equal, and because he really couldn't hear here that well from where she had been. Ronin turned his head to look at her, still walking and said "Whats got you down Mearii? Is there something wrong? Am i late?"

Mearii looked at him with a blank expression for a moment, unsure how to reply, "No, you were on time, I didn't really set a specific time..." she trailed off before pursing her lips. She wasn't really sure how to reply. She allowed herself to walk beside him for a bit longer before coming up with a way to explain herself. "A year ago today was the day my clan vanished." she wasn't really in the mood to explain herself, or talk about it. She just wanted to get it off her mind.

Ronin kept on walking for a second as she spoke then he stopped as he hear her talk about her family, he turned to be face to face with her now, still awkwardly holding her hand. Since holding it now, while facing her would be extremely embarrassing he reached forward letting go of her hand near her hip so that it didn't seem as if he just wanted to let go. Ronin tilted his head to the side for a moment, looking into her eyes as if thinking of some comforting words to say, unfortunately he was one of those people who were bad at expressing feelings in the form of words. In his mind he had been deciding on what to do, "Ahh screw it..." he thought, not really caring if it was embarrassing anymore, He reached his arms out and hugged her for a moment, hopefully this could take place of any words that could have been said.

Mearii wasn't sure what to expect when he had stopped walking, standing quite awkwardly, unsure what to say, so she just looked down. When his arms wrapped around her into an embrace, her eyes widened slightly; she didn't expect it so suddenly. She wasn't sure how to react or what to say when he did that, so she stayed silent, hugging him back lightly, breathing deeply into a sigh. "Let's just get something to eat. It'll get my mind off of it at least." she pursed her lips.

Ronin stood there hugging her for a long moment keeping his head down and waiting for her to say something, he felt her arms in return wrap around him and fora brief moment they hugged. Ronin heard her take in a breath and he winced his eyes preparing for anything she might say, he just hopped she didnt say, "Get off of me" or something like that, he would die of embarrassment. Ronin smiled "Well if that will make you feel better, ill take you where ever you wanna go." as he stood back up straight and put his hand out for hers again.

Mearii nodded, "I'm hungry for anything, so wherever you wanna go is fine," she laughed slightly, grabbing his hand again and walking. It was starting to get really dark and lights were beginning to turn on in the houses. Looking around, Mearii stayed silent, but tried not to keep a saddening expression on her face for too long.