The End of the Day

Ronin squeezed her hand, not to tightly but enough to make a decent grip, he smiled as she said she didn't care where they were going and obviously he didn't put his point across clearly enough he though. He saw Mearii glance off to the side seeing as it was getting dark and lights were coming on, making Ronin feel as if the two werent alone all the sudden. He looked back at her, "No no Mearii, i think you misunderstood me, i meant to say, Im going to take you out to where ever you'd like, so really its your choice and dont worry if you dont have any money i got it." Ronin glanced off to the side making an awkward face and talking in a lower voice "Also theres something id like to talk to you about later." Then as if he hadnt make that face and whispered to her, he squeezed her hand once more and motioned his head to let her know that they should get going hand in hand.

Mearii blinked when he had said that it had to be her choice. When his hand squeezed on hers, she awkwardly glanced at him, bewildered on whether she knew where she wanted to go or not, "Erm... well if I had to choose, I guess Ichiraku Ramen..." she smiled awkwardly. She continued to walk beside him, and heard him say how he had to talk to her later. She nodded, looking around as the lights grew brighter near the main area.

Ronin smiled at her briefly, glancing at her when she looked at him then looked the other way not trying to make it more awkward then it already was or at least for him. He kept her hand in his as they entered the main part of town which was decently lit with lights from street lamps and shops, he looked around for the Ramen shop that Mearii had wanted to go to. Ronin pointed with his free hand, looking at Mearii, "Ahh, Ramen shops this way right?" Ronin shrugged lightly and smirked "I dont normally go out for ramen although i dont mind having it i do like it."

Mearii laughed slightly after he spoke, looking around, "I go here all the time, it's this way." she began walking in the direction he pointed, "It's all I ever eat whenever I go out, other than the Dango Shop... I don't know of any other restaurants, because I don't eat out much," she shrugged, looking around. Mearii began to bite her lip slightly, as though she was nervous, looking up to see if the Ramen Shop was in sight.

Ronin nodded as she spoke letting her know he was listening, "Oh so ramen is your favorite food? Huh..never knew that.." Ronin followed where Mearii was telling him to go and he continued the conversation or at least tired to, "Well i go out to eat most of the time, my parents bug me a lot but you live alone dont you? Maybe you should um..like..stop by and have dinner with us sometime or something?" Ronin glanced over at her noticing that she looked a little nervous.

Mearii looked at him for a moment, tilting her head as she contemplated on what he had asked of her. She smiled lightly, "It's been a while since I've been to a family dinner... so I'd like that," she nodded. The Ramen shop was coming into sight, "Ramen isn't my most favorite food, but it's up there... my favorite food is really Almond Chicken," she laughed slightly.

Ronin walked along side Mearii and waited for a short second of silence as she though about his question, he was happy to hear that she wanted to some time. Ronin looked up and saw the ramen shop and walked over to it with Mearii, taking only a seconds to look around, "Huh, towns rather empty tonight..." Ronin thought. As the pair reached the ramen shop, Ronin took his seat and waited for Mearii to take his seat, looking to see the waiter ready to take their order, "Uh, Mearii go ahead and order whatever you want, ill just have whatever your having." As Ronin turned in his seat to face her.

Mearii blinked as she took a seat after him. She looked to the man who was across the counter as she turned her seat toward him. She nodded at what Ronin had said and immediately thought of what she wanted. After a moment, she turned the menu away.
"I'll have the Shrimp Ramen with Egg, please," she spoke to the man and he nodded, then turning to Ronin.

Ronin watched as Mearii sat down next to him, he looked at the waiter for a moment then at her, letting him know he would order after her, as she put her menu down she said "I'll have the Shrimp Ramen with Egg, please," Ronin looked at the waiter and said, "Ah yes ill have that to please if you dont mind." The waiter nodded and walked away, as soon as the waiter was gone Ronin looked at Mearii and smiled at her, "So i was thinking after this we should take a walk through the forest district, its nice and quite, only footpaths and trees, no lights, maybe see the stars from there." He said kind of anxiously yet awkwardly.

Mearii blinked, staring at him for a long moment, unsure what to think. She blushed slightly, it was quite random, too. She looked down, laughing awkwardly, "I suppose we could.." she nodded. She looked up, waiting for the ramen still, her hands rested against the counter. She breathed out loudly, as if yawning, but she wasn't tired.

Ronin folded his hands under the counter, his head faced towards Mearii, he waited for an answer, it almost seemed as if she didnt hear what he had said for a whole moment but when he noticed the slight blush on his face he smiled a little, obviously she didn't remember what he had said earlier but it was fine with him. "W-well i mean if you want to? I think it would be fun but if you needed to get home or something i suppose i could just take you home, b-but again i think it would be fun..." He seemed slightly panicked as if in his mind she had said no to his request, At this moment, the chef brought out their food and placed it in front of both of them.

Mearii's eyes widened to his reply as she turned quickly, "No, no, I want to go," she laughed slightly and saw that the chef had brought the food. She broke her chop sticks in half and started to stir the noodles around to cool them off a little bit.

Ronin saw Meariis eyes widen, he was unsure of what she might say but to his release she did indeed want to go, she laughed a little then turned to eat, Ronin did the same, breaking his chops sticks and stirring his ramen briefly before beginning to eat. Ronin stayed quiet for a few minutes while he and her were eating, it was kind of an awkward silence but Ronin didnt mind, after he the last of the noodles into his mouth and drank some of the brother he turned to Mearii again after wiping his mouth, "MMm, so Mearii...how uhhm have you been lately?"

Mearii ate a little bit of her ramen while she stayed silent as well. When she continued to eat, she then stopped, wiping her mouth and stirring it some more. While she did so, she heard Ronin ask a question, and she turned, blinking for a moment. She wasn't sure how to reply at first because the last few days were quite depressing for her, but she didn't want to worry him. She smiled lightly, "I've been fine. Things are pretty okay." she lied smoothely. She then turned back to stir her ramen.

Ronin smiled back at her although she turned away, "Oh well thats good to hear, ive been gone the past two days actually, i trained with sensei two days ago and it was pretty intense and tough, then, haha well it was kinda random you see, sensei told me to go on this long hike to improve my endurance so sensei made up this route i should take through the mountain and be on my own for a little bit, training as i go of course, it was rough, ive been sleeping out side the past few day and thats where i was coming back from when i say you today, im glad to be back, im actually rather happy today."

Mearii couldn't help but start laughing slightly. She remembered how Ronin always talked about training when they were younger and he hasn't changed. She kept a smile on her face as she laughed and got quiet after a moment, "Ahaha, that's interesting. I've just sat around my apartment the last couple days. Not much to do," she shrugged.

"Yeah yeah i know, me and my training, its all i ever talk about right? Well sorry for wanting to grow up strong and be one hell of a jounin." Ronin gave Mearii a big smile which turned into a coy smirk. He listened to her talk about what she had been up to, "Wow, alone huh? Im sorry, you should have said something to me id love to have you tag along sometime, that is...if you think you can keep up!" Ronin said with a jesting smile as he pat her on the shoulder.

Mearii rolled her eyes playfully, "Oh, please. I've been trained taijutsu for over seven years in critical conditions in the Shiotsu art. You know what that means? They slice your feet every single time you mess up on the move. So I'm pretty sure I can handle a little bit of your training." she crossed her arms, laughing slightly.

Ronin smirked, slightly impressed yet he had a reply to this as well which was slyly though out, "Oh that sounds like a load of fun, im sure you have plenty of scars on your feet dont you? If it were me, i wouldnt have messed up." Ronin said with a smiles, then he faced forward to tell the Chef that he was done eating and passed the bowl to him. Ronin then redirected his attention back to Mearii wondering what she had to say to him now, of course he was just messing with her and he hope she understood that.

Mearii's eyes widened to hear him say that and she couldn't help but playfully gasp, "Well excuse me, but I started training with my father when I was only eight, so of course I made mistakes. The reason you cut the feet is to enhance your senses though for Ishikigan. So it all works out in the end," she stuck her tongue out before passing her bowl to the chef as well.

Ronin laughed as he could tell she was trying to be silly, He stood up and pulled out her chair for her, "Well aren't you skilled? Come on, we should get going shouldn't we?" Ronin said with a smiles. "I cant stay out too late so lets hurry up to the forest district Mearii." He stood there next to her waiting.

Mearii blinked as she got out of her seat. She looked around for the nearest way toward the forest, "You're going to have to lead the way from here on out, I don't know my way around in the dark, ahah," she took a step forward, wondering where they were going to head toward.

Ronin make an awkward smile and looked down at her hand for a moment unsure of what to do, so he just decided to grab her hand. He then started to walk in the direction of the forest district. "Oh dont worry about it, i know where im going, i go here often actually...normally alone though." Now it was pretty dark and the air had grown pretty cold, winter had been coming soon so the cold was rolling in unfortunately. Ronin looked at Mearii as he walked, "So...um what are you doing tomorrow?"

Mearii cold feel the cold air and it caused her to tense up a bit as she walked. When Ronin asked what she was doing, she blinked slightly, "Well, I'm not sure. My plans are kind of twisted up. Either Kimo wants me to watch his little sister or I'm gonna head to Sound for an investigation." she shrugged. She honestly wasn't sure about watching Kimo's sister since she hadn't heard from Kimo in a few days. But either way, she planned to head to sound in the next few days.

As the two walked, Ronin led her into an area where the bulding stopped and it seemed to be one big path paved through dense woods, the walkway was made of concrete and well paved, with small low lights on the ground at 30 yard intervals so that the light was barely visible only lighting up the pathway, every 50 or 60 yards were stone benches with no arm rests or backs, there was a small hedge formed on either side of the path made by concrete bricks which sepereated the fresh cut grass and paved walkway from the leafy, untampered-with Forest floor, None of the large forest trees hung over the path way keeping it leaf free, leaving the place overall a spectacle especially if you wanted to be alone in the busy village. Ronin looked over at Mearii for a moment as they were taking their first few steps into the forest district, "your going to Sound huh? i dont wanna invite myself alone but i think i could help you..that is..if you want me to come?"