ReaptheMusic — Roleplayer Guild

Hideaki Tatsuji

Tatsuji watched the elf oni contemplate his existence in silence, his expression utterly unreadable through his golden mask. Then she went on ahead, picking up the shanty that the human had begun. Though invisible past his barrier, a smile was palpably coming from the fire oni as he rode along, catching up to them slowly from behind before the imp of an oni bombarded them. At that moment, the aqua oni with her beautiful red parasol began to chastise the human for smoking. Before he could contemplate what to say, Hisaya fell back in line with Tatsuji, who rode not far behind the supply wagon at this point. 

"You might not want to get any closer to that caravan, unless you want to get your hair put out." She said, apparently keeping her eye on the woman who rode with the supplies. Up until this moment, Tatsuji had made a valiant effort not to stare at the absolute beauty of the water oni. In those long hours holed up in his home, waiting for orders to be given, he had dedicated his time to studying other oni. When in Rome, as the saying goes. The fact that her kind was here and not locked away as a prize or living free spirited by the rivers told him all he really needed to know. Thus, despite her enchanting appearance and the subsequent tightening of the armor that was already so small on him at the sight of her, he had done his best to steer clear. At this moment, he allowed himself to gaze up at her from behind, a sigh stifled by his own sense of logic. He turned to look at Hisaya through his mask which betrayed only the emotion that was carefully carved into it upon its conception.

"The woman could stab my heart at this moment and I'd still sing her praises. Any woman giving myself attention would receive the same so long as I can look at the flustered face she makes before I perish. Hahaha..." There was an edge of humor to the deep rumbling of his voice which echoed beneath the mask as he admitted his perverse needs. "My fire will not harm our resources; still, the lady is against my existence. I will falter."

He gently pulled at the reigns, taking into assumption that she was also concerned about him if just a bit of contained embers bothered her so. Falling behind the caravan by a step, he turned his attention to the sky. It hadn't been long since they began. Perhaps they would reach their destination by sundown.

~Erika and Michael~

Erika stayed for a moment outside the newspaper club room. Then, an idea clicked into her head. She glanced into the newspaper room for a moment, smirking, then turned her head to go to the gym. Once there, she fished a small safe that she kept in her locker for the sake of some items she'd prefer others not know she had in her possession when she was changing and dumped the contents out. Inside, a credit card that was only supposed to be use for emergencies, her medicine from the hospital she'd gotten from the hospital after her coma, and a second pair of glasses fell out. Pocketing the credit card, Erika then turned her attention to other things within the locker and rushed over to the locker room mirror with them. Unzipping the small bag she had with her, she pulled out a few makeup items. Nothing really too complex, just a bit of concealer, lipstick, blush, eyeliner and mascara. The basics. 

Erika pulled off her school sweater, leaving just her white shirt button down shirt beneath as she leaned forward, rouging her cheeks with a little of the pink blush, bolding her eyes with the eye liner, flaring her lashes with the mascara and finally choosing a bright red color for her lips. She leaned back, smiling at herself for a moment and blushing at her small accomplishment as she slid the makeup back into its bag. It was a small change but... somehow, it made her feel more confident. Before the coma, she'd been too scared to put this stuff on and go out in public. Now, as she slid her glasses back onto her face and tilted her head down to shake her curls out, giving them a more voluminous feel, she contemplated her metamorphosis. Had she really been so scared before? Why? Or rather... why was it her inhibitions were suddenly so turned on their head? Even as she asked herself this... she knew the answer. 

...

She closed her eyes tightly, then looked back at herself in the mirror. Staring back at her wasn't an introverted mouse that hid in the corners, but something more of a woman coming into her own. As she looked at the crimson color of her lips; a bold red she'd chosen for the sake of the Red King's guild, she understood that she couldn't think about how it is she got to be so free spirited.Rather, it was her free spirit she had to give up. And it was worth it, wasn't it? Wasn't it?

Erika scowled, then undid the top two buttons of her white blouse. She hurried to her locker, shoving her school shirt inside along with the make up bag. A small spray of perfume--"Jester's Kiss"--and she was rushing to the outside of the school. As she ran down the halls, she turned a few heads. Now that people knew her name--knew her they would no doubt be surprised by the change in appearance. She made her way outside the front of the school and took a relaxed stance against the brick wall, waiting. 

As it turned out, she wouldn't have to wait very long. Though the Red King still had matters to attend to, mostly that of answering Aaron who had bumped into him. He glanced at the other boy before saying, "Not sure yet. But the other Guild members are thinking about a more American sport. Maybe something like a basketball tournament. Something agressive since we're supposed to be the "agressive" Guild and all that." Well, they might as well play up to the crowd's hype as they were a warrior Guild. That said and done, he swiftly exited out of the newspaper club room since, after all, he wasn't a member and had no business there. Maribel winked at him but he shrugged it off, walking out into the hallways and wondering why everyone was staring in one direction. Walking outside the school, he could see the reason why. Was that Erika?

The moment Michael was out of the school, Erika sprang into action. She jumped over the railing of the stairs, her skirts flaring, and came up to him, her eyes wide behind her glasses.

"Give me your phone!" She said this, holding out her hand her heart pounding. There was no way this would work. She blushed beneath her lightly rouged cheeks, looking up at him expectantly.

"Why?" That was Micheal's simple but justified answer. Some students turned around to wonder what the commotion was. Was this a love confession going on? Some kind of spout between lovers? It was a good thing they weren't paying too much attention to care about the Red King's love life; otherwise they would have seen his cheeks slowly turn the same shade as his hair. "And why should I give my phone to you?" At this, Erika took in a deep breath, looking into his eyes as she gently covered the receiving end of her own phone with her hand tightly and spoke in a hushed tone to him.

"I want to spend time with you. Just you... and me... " She glanced at her own phone in her hand, slightly nervous for multiple reasons, then back at him. "And nobody else." She reached out her hand further, this time with much less force, her eyes gentle. "Do you trust me?"

So this was a manner of trust then? Micheal had to admit, not many had up and confront him like this. He was a bit surprised and even a little unsure of what to do in this scenario. The girl had been trying to talk to him for so long and now she was as confident as anyone else, no, greater. But as she held her phone out, he had a semblance of what was going on. Somewhat. With a small sigh, he nodded, indicating that yes, he did trust her. Reaching into his pocket, he fished out his phone and handed it to her. Erika's face broke into a relaxed smile as she took his phone from him, noticeably covering his receiver end as well. 

"I'll put this somewhere safe... don't move!" With that, she dashed, sprinting faster than she had before in her life as adrenaline surged through her body at how ecstatic she felt. She couldn't keep the grin off her face as she nearly slid onto her butt by skidding to a stop in the girl's gym locker room. Her fingers trembled as she locked up the phones in her inner locker safe, then slammed it shut. She took a moment, an ominous feeling in her gut as she stared at the slammed locker and came to terms with what she was doing. With a nervous exhale, she ran out of the locker room. It wasn't long before she came flying out of the building, stopping to put her hands on her knees and catch her breath beside michael. She looked up at him, smiling, her red lipstick brilliant in the golden hour as the sun was beginning to set, her blue eyes shimmering with excitement and triumph behind her slightly foggy spectacles. "C...phew... come... on... " She paused, swallowing her spit. "To the station!" And with that, she was off again, taking off running towards the subway, laughing as her ebony lockes bounced in the air behind her.

"Um...are you ok?" he asked, wondering where she went and how fast she had gone to have built up such a sweat. But seeing as she was clearly excited, he couldn't help but feel a tinge of adrenaline as well. He hadn't really tried his hand at the whole dating thing and so wondered what would be in store today. Wait, was this an actual date? Erika had made no such mention...but she did just steal his phone and was wearing make-up. This was a date...right? Before he could ask she was already bolting towards the subway station without a second thought. He would only get his answer if he pursued so pursued he did.

The ride to the cafe in the mid-city area had been quiet, though they had sat together the whole time. Erika practically beaming in her seat as she sat beside Micheal and stole glances over at him. As soon as the subway doors had opened though, she had continued her high speed chase--this time albeit a bit slower--until she had come into this cafe. Her favorite one in the city, she recalled coming here late at night with Yuuki whenever she'd needed to run away from the hecticness at home for a while. So now she sat, across from the Red King, the collar of her shirt now half upturned from the adrenaline fueled high she'd been riding. She looked at him across the table, her glasses half slid down.

"I'm... sure you're confused," She admitted, her hands on the table. "The truth is... I was sick of never getting the chance to talk to you, you know? I mean... truly talk to you. Something has always gotten in the way and... " Erika paused, looking at him, then out the window with a smile. She was about to say something she couldn't take back and needed a moment to build up the courage.

Likewise, he was also slightly out of breath from all the running around they had down. But sitting down at the cafe was already doing wonders for his tired legs, though his eyes tried to avoid the collar of Erika's shirt. He didn't need any more rumors spreading about the two of them...speaking of which, he raised an eye as Erika brought to the table what had been on her mind. That was it? And here he thought there was going to be some big bomb dropped on him. Which, given the surroundings, it probably was. "Really? You didn't seem like you were all that interested the last couple of days," he said, just a hint of something else in his voice. "But I'm sure going from unknown to popular in a few days tends to make you forget about perspectives."

". . . I didn't forget about you." She looked at him, her eyes meeting his as she took a deep breath, finally ready to say it. "I mean... how could I? Michael... Michael, I... think about you alot." Her hands were trembling, and she clasped them together to keep her resolve. She'd already come this far. No turning back now. She lifted her head to look at him straight on. "You already know, probably. There were so many rumors flying around, how could you have not? I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused you..." Her eyes averted, then went back to him slowly with a dark blush prominent on her cheeks. "It's true... I ... really like you!"

'Yes. I knew that already," Michael said, leaning just a bit closer in his chairs. "But not really because of the rumors or anything like that. It's not even because you were obvious about the whole thing. I know you like me...because I suppose...I like you too." He tried to keep his expression even but had a feeling Erika was about to explode. Probably a good idea to lean back in his chair and scoot out just a little lest the girl hurt herself and him. Maybe. Only time would tell.

Erika's mouth parted and she stilled, her hands clenched into fists on on the table as she stared at him, her cheeks bright red... Without knowing it, she held her breath as her eyes met Michael's through her lenses, which were very slowly falling down her nose. Her vision went blurry as the glasses slide so low that her eyes became exposed. Without the protective glass, she could feel tears in her eyes. Not enough to spill, but just enough to make her blue eyes shimmer in the ambient cafe lighting. Then, she took a shuddering inhale, all at once looking down and pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose, her hand shaking. "You're teasing me, aren't you?"

"I think I would have gotten my phone back if I was teasing you," Michael said. "But if you don't believe me, I suppose I'll just have to make you believe me. I know I didn't ask this earlier so I'm saying it now so you can hear. As of right now, this is a date." He could practically feel Erika's heart exploding. "And that means we're dating." More explosions. "Right now." Yet more rumbles in the chest. "Meaning we're a thing now." He could see the stars oozing out of her eyes. "Officially." And there it was. The grand finale. "So yeah."

For a moment, it was silence, Erika holding her hands over her chest, her crimson lips that she had done up so specifically in his color shimmered as her lips trembled. 

"F....fuh..."

Her hands trembled harder and she bit down on her lip. She tried to think back. Michael liked her too? Had she missed the signs? At what point did he actually... start to care about her? She had so many questions. They swirled around in her mind like a cyclone. Her grip on her chest tightened. She stammered a few more times. "F...Fi..." At that moment, color exploded before her eyes as she stood up, her hands slamming down against the table, her actions feeling foreign and sudden to her. The words that leapt out of her mouth unexplainable to her own logical reasoning.

"Fight me, Red King!"

Her face was bright pink, her words exclaimed so loudly that other customers turned their heads to see what the commotion was. She gasped a few times, then pointed at him, her blue eyes wide. 

"That festival, they're fighting for your alliance right?! Well, fight me! If I win... You have to swear your alliance to me!"

What was she saying?! He already admitted to liking her. Still, some part of her needed this triumph. Erika trembled, swallowing as she looked at him, restating her exclamation.

"Right now, I want to officially date you..." She clenched her fists, bringing it closer to her body. "So when I kick your ass, you have to call me your official... girlfriend... got it?!"

"Um, what?" Michael asked, more stunned by the words coming out of her mouth than the actual outburst. "And...you couldn't have made this simpler by just saying yes? Well no matter," he said, recovering from his surprise and giving Erika a look with clear fire in his eyes. Such was the gaze of Crimson Streak, Red King of the Scarlet Harleys. "I accept your challenge."

Erika's stance relaxed after a smirk at Michael. Her heart skipped a beat at his confident gaze. In the heat of the moment, she dove forward over the table... grabbing Michael by the front of his shirt and kissing him deeply then and there. Her glasses bounced off of her nose and turned diagonal on her face as she held them both there for a few seconds that felt like a small eternity, her blush glowing on her face as she felt his soft lips against hers. And to Michael's chagrin, he was definitely not expecting this outcome...but then again, Erika had literally rushed them to this. All that running...but she would find her kiss returned, Michael not really caring if they were being so flippant in public. They stayed like that together... until the well placed sound of a throat clearing caused them to pause, mid-kiss, and look over.

A barista stood there, arms folded, tapping her foot. At that moment, Erika realized they hadn't ordered anything. She pulled back, adjusting her glasses and chuckled at Michael with a blush.

"I'll... get us some... mochas?" She scratched her cheek and giggled before getting off the table and jogging over to the counter to place their orders.

@Mega Birb, @TheWindel

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Of a Certain Grim Reaper Aesthetic

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