[Benihime x Youko Gaiden] The Crimson Kunoichi & The White Ronin

[Apollymi]

Kazumi's eyes rolled at this young man's rebuttal. Granted he was quite correct and to her knowledge no one was actually after her life in a way that was even remotely reasonable, she still didn't know if having a drunken guard was a good idea regardless of the level of skill he possessed. The new Shinobi hire seemed to have a much more agreeable personality and she wondered if her father would end up keeping her on as a permanent hire because of this. Regardless of this there was a more directly pressing matter and it was that of Youko's hair cut, which he seemed to be against and his tone let her know this would likely be an uphill battle, but she intended to win. "Yes, I did say that exactly. You can't be that drunk. You need a hair cut, you look like you've been living out in the wilderness forever. It isn't presentable. A cute hair cut will do wonders for your image," she said. And if this sounded like something she was willing to negotiate this wasn't at all the case. "Plus, you're my guard, and I am ordering this hair cut. No need to argue, just come on!" the girl said. This young woman was merely sixteen years old but she was oddly demanding. She'd taken a liking to Youko when she showed up, and demanded her father let her marry him, but he'd refused this request, one of the first he'd ever done to the young woman. This had broken something within her, not allowing her something she wanted, even so, he'd given her this man as her guardian, and while this was the case, she'd work to make him more presentable so that she could bring up her case with her father once more. Of course, all of this was being done completely without the Ronin's knowledge, but that didn't really matter at present. It wasn't as if he'd actually say no or anything, at least this was the case in the girl's mind.

While this battle over a hair cut took place, the crimson haired lass found herself wandering one of the upper floors in the mansion. After looking around a bit, she'd found this was the place that the lady of the house was most likely to be found any given day, and as such she went searching, while also taking the time to note the place for future quick entrances and exits she hadn't seen in her earlier explorations. She'd soon enough find this woman hanging out of a window looking discontentedly at the sky, a grin passing her face as she took in a full view of this woman's rear end and immediately felt the quickening of her own pulse. 'Damn! The Daimyou's wife is amazing!~' she chimed mentally as she marked this room with a brush of her finger tips and moved about within making the bells attached to her person chime to catch her attention.

[Bloodedge]

Youko eventually returned to the bar counter from the side opposite to where he'd previously been sitting. Taking a side there, he leaned against the counter to directly view the Daimyou's daughter while addressing her rather outrageous demands. "First, I am definitely not that drunk. Second, I have no reason to be presentable. This order of yours has absolutely nothing to do with my ability to act as a guard, so I don't exactly have a reason to obey, do I? Let's not forget that I'm not a guard because you needed one of your own, but because your dad didn't want you to be upset with him."

[Apollymi]

This argument between Youko and Kazumi seemed to be leading only in circles. The white haired man was soon enough standing opposite the girl in this bar area, presenting some very sound reasoning for why his personal appearance had no bearings on his work. And how beyond that he wasn't even necessary for the girl's personal protection, but had simply been a gift to her to keep her happy, which was something her father seemed to do on a regular basis placate her demanding attitude. Given this of course, the girl was used to men giving her, her own way, and she was quite determined that Youko be among them. "Exactly, Tou-sama let me have you as a guard because I wanted you. Whether or not you believe it's important to your work shouldn't matter, because it's important to me. Keeping me safe and happy is your job, and this will make me happy so you should do it," this girl said succinctly with her arms crossed over her chest. Her request was outlandish but she should be getting her way here as far as she was concerned.

Bells jingling made the woman at the window turn giving the red head a fuller view of her which made the biggest of grins spread across her face. "Ohayou Gozaimasu, Onee-chan~" she chimed which made something of a blush come to the woman's face, a light pink tint and widened eyes. "Onee-chan?!" she questioned, seemingly stunned. "I... I'm the Daimyou's wife, no one calls me that," she said seeming stunned by it. Benihime didn't take this statement the way it was really intended and found herself giggling just a little. "Sumimasen, I didn't mean to be disrespectful, Onee-sama, then? Sorry to interrupt of course, I just didn't want to spook you while I was walking around," she said which made the woman laugh. "That isn't at all what I meant, but I suppose, it's flattering really," she said of the young woman's greeting. This made the redhead smile as she approached taking perch in the window instead of doing anything remotely useful. The woman saw this and found herself stunned, she'd assumed this girl would leave without her target being in this place. "I assume you're the new guard, if you are looking, the Daimyou is rarely up here, he's likely downstairs, in his study," she said finding this girl's relaxed nature stunning. "I know, I've met him... I was kind of just having a look around and preparing, but... it'd be rude not to talk to someone all alone, right Onee-chan?" she said which made the woman's eyes widen. "Seems like you like that one better anyways..." this woman seemed stunned. No one but her daughter and a few choice servants had bothered speaking to her in ages. This young woman's attentions seemed strange, but also familiar, it was something she wasn't sure how to react to. "Shinobi aren't usually so friendly. But of course, I can't say I mind agreeable company," the woman said as she returned to staring out the window a bit further away from the young woman who'd so recently invaded the space. And so Benihime would end up chatting with the wife of the Daimyou for quite a while to come.

[Bloodedge]

"If that's how you want to put it, you do have a point. But..." Youko stopped himself mid-sentence, flipping onto the counter to take a seat atop it. In doing so, he propped up his left arm using his right knee, while his right leg hung loose and his right hand reached out to lift the chin of the girl before him. "As your sworn protector, I am to put your safety first. I have to consider that, in the middle of getting a haircut, someone could sneak by me and do harm to this precious face of yours. If I allow even a scratch to get by like that, how would I be allowed to continue my duties? Regardless of how you want to look at the situation, it's going to take a lot of convincing for me to go through with something like a haircut. Think you have enough bargaining chips?"

[Apollymi]

A smile spread rather gently across Kazumi's face as Youko flipped himself over the bar and took a seat. His words almost implied acquiescence which was what she really wanted in the first place. But, as he lifted her chin her expression softened immensely. The young girl's mind started to wander quite a bit, and not about the initial statements he made about potential risks to her safety, but about how she could actually bargain to get him to do what she wanted. "Well, if you are half as good at doing stuff as you claim nothing bad will happen to me as long as I am with you. Your own words state that no one is after me which should be anywhere near a problem for you, even while getting a hair cut. Your duties wouldn't be compromised and I'd be happy," the young woman said even so a small smile came to her face. "I bargain with plenty," she mentioned. Of course, this girl had assumed that the man before her wouldn't go get a hair cut of his own accord, she'd gone to change clothes accordingly. That pink mini skirt of hers slid further up her hips as she moved closer to him, her top slid further down as well, revealing even more of her massive cleavage as she leaned into his face. "Hair cut now, and you can have me later..." this was of course her final offer.

In the time period Benihime had been chatting with the Daimyou's wife she'd learned quite a bit. A smirk laid on her face as the woman had relaxed into their conversation. She was laughing, her face livened up by the attention her husband didn't pay her. She'd even found out that this woman, her daughter, and her husband always seemed to be at odds, though her daughter chose her husband's side in most cases. "Sou ka~ Sounds pretty normal to me, except leaving you out of course. You're way too stunning for that... Onee-chan~" she said which made the woman's eyes widen significantly and her face tint severely. "Surely you can't mean that... I'm old enough to be your mother..." she muttered which caused Benihime to lean forward her right hand stroking the side of this woman's face. "Oh, you're nothing like my mother, I could show you exactly what I mean by that of course, Onee-chan, you'd love it~" the crimson haired lass mentioned as she leaned in... the tension of this moment intensifying as she drew her face in closer, and to the surprise of many this woman didn't seem to turn away, she was locked in, this was all that was left. 'Sweet!~ I don't even feel bad, the Daimyou leaving such a tasty treat to rot here...' she thought as she closed the distance of their faces to mere breaths away.

[Bloodedge]

Youko's eyes wandered down the length of Kazumi's being as she shifted about. This was exactly the sort of reaction he'd come to expect from her when he wasn't keen on doing whatever it was she initially wanted, but her offer implied that she thought it would work from a different perspective. "Hoh? So you weren't already offering yourself to me? I was under the impression that you were overdue for your next fix. How long has it been now since your father has had me doing things elsewhere?" he asked. Of course, there was more to be said regarding his abilities, both related and unrelated to what Kazumi had mentioned. As his right hand trailed down from her chin, sharp nails gently tracing a line down into her plentiful cleavage, it was Youko's intention to speak on this. However...

His eyes suddenly widened. When they did, the normal pupils and golden irises were replaced with what looked like a pair of full moons. "Someone's here. Your father is in danger." True to his word, a mysterious assailant had already entered the building from above. In this land of samurai, an individual with a movement pattern and lightness more akin to ninja darted through the building, heading toward the Daimyou's study downstairs. Such a combination should not have existed in this land, and though Youko himself possessed such a trait, he thought it strange to see such chakra moving about in this way.

[Apollymi]

"Yes! It's been like two weeks. It isn't fair... it's like he's doing it on purpose!" the young woman mentioned in a manner most akin to a brat. Of course, this was gently quelled by the feeling of sharp nails tracing her cleavage. If she worked this correctly she might get a couple of interesting things out of this exchange the first of which would be this man's hair cut. But just as suddenly as the attention started, it shifted, Youko's attention shifting to something else entirely and his eyes changing to denote this. His next words were not at all about what she wanted them to be. "Of course he is, guess we are about to find out how good his new assassin is..." she said rolling her eyes. It was just her luck that her father managed to thwart her indirectly even when she was well invested into the activity of the time. "I guess you're going too right?" she asked of the man frowning intently.

Benihime was rather close to closing her own deal, but there was a shift in the wind. The bells attached to her person jingled, and she frowned. "Damn, sorry Onee-chan, we'll have to get back to this later," she said without further explanation she pushed herself out of the window. The Daimyou's wife found herself looking stunned as the young girl moved away. But before she could fall she disappeared in a flash of crimson light. All the tension in the air just ceased, and the Daimyou's wife was left looking completely stunned. 'What did I almost do?' she questioned herself, her heart beating faster than it had in years, something strange had almost happened, and somehow she didn't know how to feel about it. The woman began pacing trying to think through her own behavior in this moment.

When Benihime reappeared she was shifted to one of the seals on the lower floor, then another, and another, each time she seemed to be gaining speed and momentum. Each of her footfalls was silent and her chakra suppressed. 'Damn it all, I almost had her!' it seemed this young woman thought her work was getting in the way of her fun, not that this mattered. As she rested her left hand against the bottom of the seal on her right arm. She had to wait a moment, but once she was sure she could unleash the attack she had in mind, to kill the coming assailant. To one watching they would have seen her appear and disappear, and the build up of the Raiton Chakra nature even if they could not see what she was doing as the seal on her arm gave her the ability to charge her attack invisibly. Her crimson eyes narrowed as she would appear perched on the ceiling of the Daimyou's study in absolute silence, waiting for the assailant to spring her attack.

[Bloodedge]

Two weeks. In two weeks, the Daimyou's daughter had not seen an outlet to tension, and the same could be said of Youko. What's more, he'd already been stripped of one potential outlet this day; not that Kazumi would be informed of this in the moment. To say the least, this assailant's timing could not have been much worse. "Well... In all honesty, it isn't my job to protect the old man. I'm here to look out for... and when I'm lucky enough, at you," he said while that singular nail of his aimed to tug down at the kimono worn by Kazumi. All the while, though, his periphery was picking up chakra traces from every other person in the building. The one he recognized as Benihime's began to move, but the one nearest to it prior to this was what he pinned as Kazumi's mother's. 'What was she doing there? Is Toku-jii just pushing guards off on his family members instead of himself now?' he wondered. Nevertheless, he watched the assailant move throughout the building, and watched Benihime's chakra vanish and reappear where small traces of it had been left previously. Something was strange about how this woman's chakra behaved, but soon enough, it gained a color denoting a lightning element.

The masked male intending to have the Daimyou's life eventually reached the man's study, as if he knew exactly where it - and the Daimyou himself - would be. However, he continued moving into the next room over, and exited through the window. A strange tool in his left hand produced a large wing from a rod, which the man used to fly outward, likely to reposition himself. In the meantime, the Daimyou looked up from his desk to find Benihime on the ceiling with a technique in progress. "What is the meaning of this!?"

[Apollymi]

This man continued tugging down on her shirt and becoming a bit more aggressive in his intentions. Kazumi seemed to be faltering just a little. She bit her lip and sighed. If he really started touching her all would be lost. She'd lose her leverage and at some point likely her consciousness in this endeavor, might it be worth it though? 'I guess I could let this go for now...' she thought absently as she leaned in. It became obvious that this man wasn't going to leave any time soon as such she aimed to slid up into his lap atop the bar. "I mean this isn't really over or anything, but..." her pause would lead to her reaching for his cock, she knew well enough to know that she could leave this alone for now and perhaps just arrange the barber some other day, when sex couldn't be so easily used to sway her.

Meanwhile Benihime was perched on the ceiling, she expected the assailant to come at her directly but a gentle chime from the bell made her avert her attention to a nearby room. She heard very little by way of foot movement and then, the target she was looking for launched himself out of a window. Her eyes widened. 'This country isn't supposed to have anything in it but Samurai, what is with this guys movements?' she thought. 'And how the fuck am I supposed to get to a flying target without taking out half this palace with him?' as if her own thoughts weren't enough with the charging of her jutsu nearly complete there was also the matter of getting within range. And the now disturbed Daimyou below whose studies she'd apparently interrupted. "There is an active attempt on your life right now, I'm just doing my job is all..." she mentioned her gaze now shifted to the window as an assault from outside now seemed like the obvious choice. 'Ugh, need something solid to run on, and if I make the chains, I'm going to have to stop the Chidori, I'll lose charge time...' she had to figure this out and quickly, and though mentally she was quite stressed, her eyes were deadpan and her expression hadn't shifted.

[Bloodedge]

"Atta girl," he commented while the lass rose to take a place in his lap. All the while, he kept the goings-on outside of this room in his sights, finding the assailant's movements to be strangely expansive, and Benihime's to be just as strangely lacking once the intruder was outside. 'No anti-air, huh?' was what crossed his mind during this time. Both of his hands had begun occupying themselves by pulling down either side of Kazumi's kimono, until it bore all the flesh above her diaphragm, but he thought it best to take a brief pause. Of course, he quickly thought of a way to offer some assistance to the newcomer kunoichi while also servicing himself in the long-run. "Y'know what? Why don't we all win today?" he asked in rhetoric. A swift movement of his right hand allowed his already sharp nails to form full claws, which he used to lop off the vast majority of his hair, leaving it rather short. What he did with the rest though, was throw it toward the window with a bit of influence from his chakra. This produced a temporary staircase of Yang chakra-infused hair strands leading toward the assailant who was now putting the Daimyou in his sights. Youko left it to Benihime to take note of this while his attention fell to the young woman sitting atop him. "That was more painful than I thought. I'll be holding you responsible for that, you know?" was his follow-up statement, spoken directly into the face of Kazumi.