Ninja Like Us

"Of course, of course. I am sure you are quite responsible enough for the task. And the fact you were able to so easily break into my home before certainly puts me at ease." Coltan said to each girl in turn. They were a fun twosome. The curve-balls life sent his way were getting more and more engaging as of late. After a while longer of viewing the city and stargazing, Coltan stood and dusted himself off. "I believe it's time I've returned home to get some rest. Tomorrow begins early for me. Would you ladies care for a lift?" He offered his hands to Natomi and Kusa; he had a feeling he'd be getting plenty of practice in teleporting others in the future. Whether they wanted to stay out later or not was completely up to them.

After another moment, Natomi went to take Coltan's hand as he offered it knowing he intended to teleport them back. Both she and Kusa could teleport in their own way as well, but she didn't know Coltan's place enough to teleport back just yet. She could come pretty close, not not exactly. She'd need another gander at the place again Should probably remember signs and land marks too just in case..

Kusa smiled, taking Coltan's other hand firmly. "Why thank you! And also, thank you for putting up with us today. It was a lot of fun!"

Coltan gave Kusa a calm smile in return, holding onto both her and Natomi's hands. "As did I! It was my pleasure, I assure you." With that, he extended his energy to the girls and whisked the three of them to his front door in a burst of lightning. It was probably a sight his neighbors were well accustomed to by now. Coltan opened the door for the women before entering and locking the door for the night.

Natomi soon came in, looking around a bit. She wasn't sure if she really felt like going to bed so maybe she could find something to do. "Hm..I don't much feel like going to bed right now. What about you Kusa?" If she was tired and felt like going to bed, then she guessed she might if nothing to do came to mind. Maybe.

Kusa shrugged. "I'm up for whatever, Natomi."

Coltan chuckled. It somehow seemed like he'd need more energy to keep up with those two. "Entertain as you so wish. Goodnight." He made his way toward his room to get some sleep.

((Skip until Coltan is involved, or until the morning.))

(My inspiration, focus and overallness of writing being has been beaten down with a hammer made of adamtanium. As such..I guess I'll just have Natomi go to bed for the next day. Nothing to really do and no ideas lol)

Natomi couldn't think of anything really so after a bit she decided just to spend some more time awake talking to Kusa. Eventually though, she had to sleep. The young woman forced herself to go to bed, dressing down once again in a night shirt and waited for Kusa to get in so she could sleep. She always slept better with Kusa close by.

Kusa of course happily climbed in with Natomi, snuggling up to her. This was normal for them... though she doubted it meant quite as much to Natomi as it did to her.

Coltan was up at his usual time; he was suited up well in time for work whilst having readied breakfast for his newest tenants. He was currently sitting in the living room, checking over the newspaper for interesting articles before heading out to work.

While Natomi was more of a early riser in most cases due to her training, somehow Coltan always beat her to the punch when it came to getting up to be ready for the day. One of these days, she was seriously going have to fix that but right now she couldn't be bothered with it. Sleeping in like this was a luxury so she planned on enjoying it for as long as she could.

If you weren't part of the clan, you wouldn't have to worry about that. There it was again. That annoying subconcious that was purely her own that came in the shape of doubts and other thoughts. Most of the time she banished it to the recesses of her mind but ever once in a while if she was particularly thinking of something or having negative thoughts it would come up.

It was partly true. She could have, if she was 'normal'. Whatever that meant these days. On the flipside, Natomi liked her job and liked helping people whether she would have found something similar being a civilian was a interesting thought experiment but one she didn't entertain as often.

Besides, much as she might have denied it, part of her enjoyed the fighting.

Deciding that was enough self reflection on what to do once--and when this was over, Natomi headed out after getting her hygeine done. She didn't doubt Kusa would be close behind, she had always been especially sensitive to when she woke up when they slept close together.

"Morning, Coltan." Natomi said with a slight tired smile. "Read anything interesting?"

Kusa had, of course, woken mere moments after Natomi, and had followed her lead in getting ready for the day. Kusa had been the target of some jokes in the past for this tendency. It was often joked that Kusa wouldn't know what to do with herself without Natomi around, and some people even wondered if perhaps Kusa wasn't able to take care of herself and needed Natomi as an example of what to do. This was all untrue, of course. Kusa simply liked to be around Natomi. It was as simple as that. Kusa waved to Coltan, smiling more brightly than Natomi; she was energetic almost immediately after waking. "Morning, Coltan!"

"A 'Good Morning' to you both." Coltan politely greeted the two in response. "Fortunately, there is little crime to speak of. In my line of work, a 'slow day' is of greater preference than the opposite. Though, there have been a string of thefts as of late. Valuables and personal belongings have gone missing in far too quick succession. A suspected pickpocket and thief, but no suspect identified." Coltan thoughtfully rubbed his chin and folded the newspaper shut. "This could be worth a look..." He muttered to himself before standing.

"Have you any plans for the day?" He asked his guests.

Natomi went to find herself some place to seat; promising herself she would one day wake up before him and actually cook. It was a small thing but something she felt she needed to do, just she wanted it to be more of a surprise then anything else.

Thief? Thieves were around all the time, but didn't make them any less a pain. Maybe she and Kusa would find something out.

"Not too sure." Natomi mulled it over. "I was planning on going to the park, get some light practice in but nothing serious. It's crowded enough to not worry about the clan, and enough space its not cramped. After that, I'll think of something if Kusa doesn't already have something in mind. Do you?"

Kusa waved her off. "Nah, no plans. Might just join you in the practice though. Just like old times, right?"

Coltan had his reservations toward the two shinobi going out to such a public place, but ultimately dismissed his worries. Their judgement was made under better circumstances than his own; Coltan didn't know their customs or codes. Beyond that, in today's world they were unlikely to draw too much attention on their own. "I see. I know I needn't tell you to be careful, so I would only hope you two have fun in my absence." He stood from his seat.

"You both remember my workplace address, correct? Should the need arise, feel free to locate me while I am away."

Natomi nodded a bit slowly. "Mhm. I remember. I took note of the building and the area when I came here. Mostly as a just in case." That being any future monster attacks, ninja lurking around(as in the case already with Kusa) "Are you going to be leaving now?"

It wasn't as if she hadn't thought about attracting attention herself, and Kusa probably had too. Ironically, the best places to hide at times were in 'plain sight'. As long as they didn't go overboard they would be all right; it was just going to be some simple kata today or some other form of exercise.

Kusa had, unsurprisingly, already wolfed down her food, and was lounging in her chair now. "We'll be careful, don't worry. The most we would do is some light sparring, with no techniques, just hand-to-hand. Maybe blunted weapons."

Coltan nodded to them with a smile. "Then I've no doubts you'll be fine. With that, I'm afraid I must take my leave." He added the last bit after checking his watch. "Good day. I'll be seeing you soon." Coltan gently shut the front door behind him and headed off toward work.

Natomi watched Coltan leave, then proceeded to finish off her own food not wanting to keep Kusa waiting. Once she was done, she headed out and made sure the place was locked before they left it behind. Her first destination was the park, from there they would play by ear.

"So what do you want to do first?" She asked after a moment. "I was thinking maybe a kata first, or maybe sparring. Doesn't really matter to me, just wanted your input."

Kusa was stretching, getting herself limber. "I figure some kata first, warm up a bit. It's been awhile since we sparred... you know, I wonder if our spars will end in something other than a draw for once." Didn't matter too much to her. Their spars usually ended with them pressed together in some way, breathing hard, and... she needed to push those thoughts aside, they'd be distracting, and then she'd get her ass kicked, and then she wouldn't get that brief thrill.

"Look! Yellow aaand owange!"


Some distance away, a small child proudly held an arm-full of flowers up to a much older, white haired man. The girl was bouncing excitedly on her toes. She was eager to show of her prize findings from the nearby flowerbed. The man she spoke to had been idly watching her as she played and gathered flowers. He leaned forward in his seat to give her his undivided attention. Even as he sat at a bench, he appeared to dwarf the girl in stature.

"That's a real nice find, Fifi. They're beautiful." The girl, Fiona, giggled wildly at her grandfather's approval. She attempted to climb onto the wooden bench, a task that would prove only mildly difficult had she not been holding flowers. The older man, Ezra, extended one large hand to gently lift her to his side. The girl began placing flowers in his hair after the assist. "Do I get another flower crown?"

"Yess!!" Fiona continued to place the flowers atop his head in a circular shape. She was getting pretty good at it. Ezra laughed heartily.

"Haha! Well, aren't you a peach?"

Natomi noticed the little girl with what seemed to be her grandfather and her mind instantly screamed 'adorable!' it took self control not to just go over there. Had to do so in a way that didn't really seem weird. Maybe she'd think of something if they were still there when they were done with her kata. She decided to start off first once she found a good spot and waited for Kusa to do the same.

* *

"We'll, someone's having fun." A amused voice cut out, as a young woman came into the picture. Her eyes were yellow and slitted which showed her vampiric nature despite more or less looking human.

Kusa smiled at the scene, but stayed with Natomi as she, too, moved to begin her kata's. It had been awhile... she hoped she wasn't out of practice at all... probably not.

Fiona had been pouring her concentration into constructing Ezra's crown when her sister spoke. It was then she realized she'd run out of flowers. Fiona gasped in surprise. "Oh, nooooo~! I'm sowwy..." Her grandfather gently lifted her from his side and set her tiny feet on the ground in front of him.

"Don't fret over that. Just run along and get a few more for her, too, alright?" Ezra calmly told her. Fiona nodded firmly and rushed back over to the flowers. The old man grinned to himself. "She's stuck on 'full drive', just like her sister. You never did outgrow your youthful energy, did you, Mara-doll?" He reclined in his seat, keeping a watchful eye on the younger of his granddaughters.