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

[Apollymi]

Youko might have been in a state of confusion about Benihime's behavior, but she was just as confused by him as she'd ever been by anything. Even so, he seemed to understand the reasoning behind her random attack of his person. "Well... yeah," she said as if this as the simplest thing in the world. He went on to speak as if this was somehow annoying and Benihime smirked seeming to find his lack of hair just as disappointing as he did. Regardless, he went on to explain that he'd simply learned to know when malicious intentions were aimed his way as a consequence of people always wanting to kill him. "No one is starting a war over me. If anything it is going to happen irrespective of anything done to me here, but I'd rather not hear Machi's mouth about starting another 'international incident'," she said which was her main reason for feeling even slightly tense in the first place. "Yes I would like to be let out, but before that... I have another question and I'd rather not be overheard," she said looking at this young man. This genjutsu fight didn't give her a feel enough for whatever Youko's actual intentions were, but... his earlier conversations with the Daimyou let her know at the very least the Daimyou didn't like him and that he likely didn't respect the old man very much. "You don't know about the Samurai Ninjas, but... do you also think there is something strange about the Daimyou?"

[Bloodedge]

"Another? Sounds like a party to me," he commented. Banter aside, Benihime voiced her preference for being freed from this Genjutsu, albeit with one hang-up: She had a question that needed to be asked without prying ears nearby. Her question involved the Daimyou, and any strange aura surrounding him. Of course, Youko had many suspicions about many people, and the Daimyou Tokudaiji Ouetsu was far from an exception to this. However... trusting a random shinobi who appeared only today to serve that very man, with any suspicions of him, did not cross Youko as a very good idea. "If I did, should I really tell you?" he asked after heaving a long sigh. "You may think I'm sketchy, but what about you? Espionage is in your job description, and we just met, what... maybe two hours ago? Who's to say you aren't here to find out if I'm trustworthy? You haven't exactly given me a reason to believe you're on my side, y'know?"

[Apollymi]

Benihime grinned international incidents would seem like fun times to ones like this one. "Yeah, yeah... it's all fun and games until people are yelling and passing out new rules and shit," she said with about all of the humor she normally managed to gather into a single moment. Still it seemed this man wasn't keen to directly answer her question. He instead in a round about way implied that she was just as sketchy to him as he was to her. She couldn't help but laugh at this just a little. "Uh-huh, so yes is the answer to my question..." she said shrugging it off. "Yep, espionage is in my job description but, you know my real name, know how my jutsu works, and you're in my head right now. Obviously this is already your show..." she said and it made sense to her. "You can let me out now~"

[Bloodedge]

Youko grinned throughout the kunoichi's retort. She at least had the capacity to keep up with his skepticism and respond in kind. As she did, he took steps toward the woman until he was able to lean forward and look her directly in the eye from a few centimeters away. "Hmm... You're definitely right about that. It's a bit weird that you knew you were in my Genjutsu without trying to get out yourself, though," he said. "Anyway... I don't have much to go by, but if I find anything solid to go with my assumptions so far, maybe you'll be the first to know. Date?" With this offer on the table, Youko held out his right hand as if to seal the deal, fully intending to - if Benihime were to accept this - undo the Genjutsu he'd placed her under. Their return to the outside world would leave the pair of them in the exact same position they'd been in at the end of the illusion.

[Apollymi]

Benihime couldn't help but find something amusing in this exchange. Regardless of the fact that she was currently in a Genjutsu which was something that she generally hated, she was fairly certain this man didn't mean her real harm. Going along with this, her next sentence would clear up any confusion about why she hadn't been trying to free herself. "Full disclosure, I don't think my file to Ouetsu includes anything recent about me. Getting out of this Genjutsu would cause me to have to do something fairly obvious that I'd rather avoid until I am sure about what he knows," she said. It seemed that kunoichi was still secretive but not nearly as much as she should be considering.

Still it seemed that he was at least accepting of her general disposition and her underlying skepticism and as such she could agree to aid him a bit. After all, he'd been pleasant enough to her that she could accept this. His right hand extended and he offered her a date at some point to perhaps discuss the nature of their common unease. The proximity he'd gain to her over the last few seconds was a bit much, but she supposed she could offer a hand shake in all fairness to him. "Hai, it's a date~" she said offering her own right hand to him as well. The illusion disappeared around them and she was left looking this man in the face into giant empty black sparkly moons. Her left brow raised it seemed that she wasn't the only one keeping things to herself. But on this assumption she could at least be satisfied that she wasn't the only one keeping things from the Daimyou.

[Bloodedge]

Apparently, the Daimyou's file on Benihime was missing some rather crucial information about her, much to her potential benefit when it came to discretion. Youko found himself wondering if this was somehow related to the strange behavior of the kunoichi's chakra, but that was none of his business or concern at present. What was his concern, was the agreement they had now come to, which Benihime accepted in a strange way. Being the type of man he was, Youko replied in a very specific way that naturally came to mind. "Yosh. Kiss on it?" he said while the moons in his eyes waned, returning his pupils and golden-hued irises. "You said I wasn't your type, but I've had a very drastic makeover since we last spoke."

[Apollymi]

Benihime found herself chuckling at this man before her. His question following their agreement would have already confused her, if she didn't have him pegged as an outrageous flirt. Even so, he went on to explain himself, bringing up the fact that she'd previously said he wasn't her type only to point out his rather drastic makeover. A small smile crept onto the Jounin's lips as she leaned forward just a little and spoke directly into the man's right ear, taking note that his eyes had waned back to normal. "Maybe when your hair grows back, Katsuhara-kun~" and she said. While she'd rate him pretty high on the attractiveness scale the thing she'd noticed about him first was all that gorgeous hair. Beyond that she still wasn't sure how she felt about him one way or another. But she was quite sure she'd figure it out over time.

[Bloodedge]

Youko's eyes widened, and his brow rose once more. Everything this woman said regarding him was seeming to contradict everything else she said. This time, she got a rise out of him by simply moving forward, only to speak into his ear something which led him to confusion once more. "You do realize you haven't made an ounce of sense since we met, right? If I'm being honest, I have to admit to not having a single clue how to approach you. It doesn't exactly make me want to stop, if that's what you were aiming for," he concluded. All things aside, an agreement had been made, and Youko had no other business to take care of for the day. As such, he was content to release the kunoichi's hand, and retire to his quarters... which happened to be in the building he'd been meant to show Benihime to. "Oh, and... I happen to be checking in for the night soon. We're almost roommates. You wanted me to show you to the guest house, right?"

[Apollymi]

Benihime's witty retort to the white haired ronin, seemed to confuse him in some way. Instead of mulling over it for whatever reason, he decided to share the problems he apparently had with the redhead's words and actions. He admitted to having no idea how to approach her, but not really wanting to stop doing it. If she wasn't properly discouraging him, she didn't know how to do so. Shooting most guys down a couple of times generally worked, but... now that she thought about it she wasn't really trying to do that. "If I am being honest, I never have any idea what I'm aiming for ahead of time. Just do what you want, it's what I do and it always tends to work out~" she said and this was rather true. The redhead's life was one of momentary decisions which made the most sense, this generally didn't involve romance with men, but it wasn't as if she was unused to male attention. There was something about the male before her she found strange and she also wasn't sure how to deal with it, or what exactly it was. But it seemed their deal had been made and as such Youko was content to let go of her hand. His subsequent action was to offer to take her to the guest house they'd apparently be sharing. "Hai, lead the way~" she said thinking that with one foiled assassination attempt on the books and some extra information on the sort of things she'd be fighting, she might want to consider some newer tactics to help her out while she fights.

[Bloodedge]

"Well, that's... helpful... maybe." He sighed once more, choosing in that moment to let the discussion between them drop where it was. Since Benihime was content to be shown toward the guests' house, he began to move while beckoning toward himself, taking the quickest path through the mansion to reach a path around back. Upon exiting the main building, their temporary abode would be easily seen at the end of a semi-long walkway. It was a bit much for a building intended only for guests, trumping the houses of even those who fall just short of nobility in such a country. A casual walk resulted in this trip taking a couple of minutes, but Youko was given much time to think about the future of all people in this overarching scenario. He came to a decision eventually, but when he stopped in front of the guests' house, he realized there was something he needed, which Benihime may or may not be capable of assisting him with. "This is the place, but I have a question before you go in. You don't happen to use Fire Release as well, do you?"