[D4, LM, Open] To Hide Away

[Seppun Unsei]

Blink.

Blink. Blink.

This was more than unexpected. This had caught her completely off-guard in every sense of the word and left her staring up at him with wide eyes and with her mouth slightly agape. It felt like something almost out of some romance novel that was hidden away underneath covers. But no, this certainly couldn't happen to her.

Benten likely wasn't going to let it happen without some consequence either, but that could come in a moment.

Unsei slowly reached out and hooked her arm around his, which caused a light blush to blossom to life on her make-up smeared cheeks. And for once, she was truly at a loss for words.

[Shosuro Hikimasu]

Oh, that actually worked?

Hikimasu never knows what to expect these days. And suddenly, not-Unsei had taken the offered arm and...was blushing?

They're playing the part, just do the same.

He had the umbrella still and held it up, more over his companion, as he had a cloak and his own hat as well.

"Then...", he cleared his throat and started walking. Stupid body warmth becoming apparent to him almost make him stop. "Do you like rain?" he asked and awkwardly got them walking, tugging not-Unsei a long a little to keep them close under the umbrella.

[Seppun Unsei]

Though she didn't really see it as just playing a part, and didn't quite like thinking that this would end eventually once the play was finished, she still went along with it to the best of her ability. After all, if this was just putting on a performance, then she could indulge without having to deal with the consequences.

As such, she slightly leaned against not-Hikimasu and even laid her head against his shoulder as they walked... after lowering her hat, of course.

"Not really, but then again, I didn't like going outside for long periods of time until just recently when I learned that it's actually pleasant." She paused, taking a moment to gather herself a bit more. "But, I've got a feeling that if every time out in the rain was with your company, such as now, I think it might turn into a favored activity."

[Shosuro Hikimasu]

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Not necessarily at what was said, but knowing his reaction would be bad if he didn't utterly crush his first instinct. The warning from his unconscious was highly appreciated.

"Of course!" He laughed, it was still nervous, even though he tried to make it a hearty thing. "It is rightly to feel such tender things in the morning, among the rain and closeness." Was he supposed to be affecting such proper diction? He put that to rest. "And my lady is quite making this one feel the rain melt in the face of her warmth."

At least it wasn't a cold sweat in the rain. Hang in there, Hikimasu! Though...it was kind of nice. Though...somehow he feels as if he has trapped himself, but a man has to do something, doesn't he?

[Seppun Unsei]

If it helped, HIkimasu was not the only one starting to panic. For all her ego and air-headedness, she had never done this before and she knew how easily freaked out the Shosuro could get, even if this as all just a massive performance being put on by the two of them... for some reason. Still, for the time, she tried to crush the erratic thoughts she had.

"You flatter me, sir, and there is little need for such thing as your presence already does that well enough." She murmured softly, pleasantly as she stayed close to his side as they walked. "How has the day found you otherwise?"

[Shosuro Hikimasu]

"Oh, the days' just begun and promises to improve", he said, the manic energy of the situation making his head lean toward not-Unsei as he said the word. "Yet already I have heard wondrous poetry, but not as fine as I see before me now, and I have trained rigorously, but not enough to stand against such a vision."

This is how it's done, right? RIGHT?

He was still a bit too close. Honestly Unsei-not-Unsei had some promising features, no matter who you were or what you thought of relationships, those eyes were huge, one had to admit.

[Seppun Unsei]

By the stars, he's probably hating this so much.

With every word not-Hikimasu spoke, Unsei could feel the pit of despair opening larger and larger, just waiting to swallow her whole. It was sweet, by no means was it not, but all of there previous interactions only made this seem all the more unnatural and Unsei felt terrible about it. By all accounts, she knew she should just ignore it, but rarely did anything good come from ignoring how one felt?

So, deciding that she couldn't possibly make this worse than it already got yesterday, she took the chance and leaned up, kissing his cheek lightly before getting off the tips of her toes.

"We don't have to keep forcing ourselves to act like something we aren't Shosuro-san." Her words were soft and gentle. "I do appreciate it, and it has been sweet, but what good will come of this if it is only an acknowledged act between the two of us? I'd rather walk with Hikimasu-san than some random gentleman, even if that does mean it's just an awkward mess."

Her apparently large anime eyes looked up to him, a sweet smile on her face. ( xD )

[Shosuro Hikimasu]

Hikimasu went numb, not in a horrible way, but everything alarming him turned off and he didn't feel his body for several seconds. That was new, not fear or worry, a different kind of tension welled up. He managed, after a second or two of looking at those eyes, to shake his head and laugh a little.

Instead of addressing the fact that his cheek had been kissed, the Scorpion tilted his head away slightly.

"You called me Hikimasu", he noted aloud. "Is that something Unsei-san wants to do?"

[Seppun Unsei]

"To call you by your first name? If you'd be willing. We've had... a bit of a rocky start, but..." She trailed off, brows furrowed as a thought flew through her head. How much further could she get with this before it all came tumbling back down again like a house of cards? She shook the thought away.

"But I'm willing to see where it goes if you are. If you actually want to do this and aren't just doing it to keep me from getting upset."

[Shosuro Hikimasu]

"Well, can't it be both?" he said. "If I care whether or not you are upset and do things to make you happy, it is in fact, keeping you from being upset." he said. Hikimasu did like to split hairs at times, but he felt like this was a good point, maybe he could help Unsei see it wasn't always exactly as they thought.

"So I have no qualm with you using my name", he said finally. Keeping the redness in his cheeks matched with his mask, so invisible, of course.