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Where the Trail Leads; [Naoki/Akari]
Topic Started: Mar 3 2018, 09:27 AM (574 Views)
Miharu Yoshikuni
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Akari giggled as Naoki led her forward. She didn't hesitate moving her along. Naoki was careful to lead her without causing her to bump into anything or stumble, and because she was blind, for all she knew, she was in an underground tunnel. She giggled, excited, as he led her along.

"I can't say what I know what lies ahead," she said. "But I'm sure it's just as charming and as curious as you've been acting tonight. Mind if as we go along, we play 10 questions? It's quite similar to what we've been playing, albeit the 10 questions build up to whatever you're trying to find the answer towards. For instance, in order to find out what you do, I can ask 10 questions about its nature. Then later, you can do the same with me. That way, we save ourselves from asking too specifically and are led to our own conclusions. What do you say?"

Meanwhile, as Akari was being led by Naoki, a figure had followed them in the shadows. It was quiet, and it had made sure to keep a reasonable distance from them so it didn't alarm them. It would slowly follow whatever directions the two made, hoping to find where they were going next.

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Chidarake
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Naoki considered her offer for a moment before smiling. That would be an interesting way to pass the time, as well as try to get some more information about the questions he asked earlier. However, simply trading information was starting to get boring, so Naoki decided to try and spice things up a bit, befitting his nickname.

"That sounds like fun, but what if I added a couple more conditions? First being that all ten questions are asked before any answers are given, so unlike normal you don't have the opportunity to use what you've learned to adjust the ones that come after. And second, we give the opportunity to add an eleventh question at the end, where we try to outright guess the answer we're looking for. If we're correct, we get to ask for a favor. If we're wrong, though, then the one being asked gets the favor. What do you say?" he asked, slowing down so that he could walk next to her. Constantly turning his head was starting to hurt his neck.

"Of course, you can disagree to one or both of those and I'll still be interested in playing. Just a little idea I had," he continued, chuckling. "Either way, you are free to start off our little game."

Naoki failed to notice the figure following them for now, as they were keeping their distance, but he was keeping a constant eye out for any approaching figures - mostly the guards from Akari's house. If their little stalker overstepped their bounds, he'd spot them in an instant.
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Miharu Yoshikuni
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"Those sound like fair terms," she said.

She was a little disappointed that indeed those ten questions were something that she had hoped to build upon, but she realized it put her secrets at its own advantage, too. She thought to herself as she tried to build up her own questions, but was finding it hard to begin.

"Well, I mean, I cut off our game last time, so it's only fair you start first. Go ahead and ask away."
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Chidarake
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Naoki winced a bit when Akari passed the buck over to him. He was assuming she would be the one to start, and the extra rules he had tacked on certainly favored whoever went second, so either she was more clever than he gave her credit for... or she just couldn't think of ten questions all at once. Oh well, at least she was playing. He considered going back to his questions from earlier, but figured that would be in bad taste. So he decided to start with something simpler, and move back towards that on the second round. He decided on an innocent enough question to start with... though the trick was hiding his real questions within the ten.

"Well, if you insist. Let's see... I think I'd like to guess at why you created an alias to sing at cafes. Do you hate playing the violin? Do you enjoy singing more than it? Did you dye your hair for this main purpose? Does anyone besides Mitsuo and I know? Do you prefer the busyness of the city over the quiet concert hall? Does the name Shiori that you chose hold any special meaning? Similar note, does your stage name Euterpe? Do you have a rough relationship with your family? Did your sneaking out to go sing have something to do with them?" he fired off his first questions rapidly, but paused for just a beat before moving on to his last one. "Do you want to escape from that prison for good?"

Now to wait for her responses. Hopefully she'd keep her word and be truthful, but given their track record, he wasn't keeping any hopes up.
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Miharu Yoshikuni
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Akari listened as Naoki asked his questions.

"Hmmm all nice questions, but you're mean to start delving into the deeper stuff so soon," she said. "No, I don't hate playing the violin. It is just that as of now, playing it makes me feel sad because it reminds me of something sad. Do I enjoy singing more? Well, to be honest singing is something I've only done more recently, but it is something I find fun, yes. Did I dye my hair on purpose? Mmm, yes. I thought it was necessary so people didn't recognize me right away. Aside from Mitsuo and you? Yes, there's Bart, my parents, and Chisato who know about what happened, although only Bart knows it to the extent as much as you do. The name Shiori? I mentioned its meaning before at the cafe, remember? I honestly only got the name though because I thought it sounded pretty. Euterpe meanwhile, did hold special meaning because she was one of my favorite Greek goddesses."

As she pondered on the next questions, her tone got a little more sullen, but she didn't fail to answer.

"No, I don't have a rough relationship with my family. We love each other dearly. That said, I could never express why I have problems to them. Not because they wouldn't understand, but because it would be too much for them. Sneaking out and going singing had a lot to do with them, but more with something else."

And on the last question, she paused again.

"I can never escape from my prison, Naoki. For I'm the one keeping me there."

She'd wait for a bit before asking her own questions, still as he continued to guide her.

"But enough about me, it's my turn to ask about you. One, do you always go around on nightly escapades like this? Two, is your work related to these nightly escapades? Three, you said your work was not of the honest sort. Would that mean you'd be arrested if found doing it? Four, if given the chance would you change the way things are? Five, are you happy with the way things are? Six, why are you scared of bringing those two people you mentioned into the mess you're in? Seven, would you let me in on it if I asked to? Eight, what's your mother like? Nine, if you can get into trouble for your mother's sake, are you willing to get out of it? And ten..."

She thought for a moment.

"Why carry the burden by yourself?"
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Chidarake
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Naoki couldn't help but smirk at her comment; she had made it clear what she was after, so it seemed only fair that he aimed at something she likely wanted hidden as well. Her first few answers intrigued him a bit, especially the mention of Bart and Chisato, but the latter answers were what he was really after. He was satisfied enough with them, starting to put together what he figured was her current state of mind about her situation.

Before he could make his guess as to what he was supposed to be asking towards, though, she shifted the direction towards him. Thankfully, it gave him more time to think, his mind bouncing between his answer to the original question he raised and how to word the answers to her own questions.

"Alright, my turn then. Let's see... One, I do regularly go on nightly escapades, but certainly not like this. Two, a part of it is. Three, that depends on what part of my work I'm doing and the situation. Four, even if I could I think I would've ended up the same way. Just working under my father instead of for my mother and I. Five... it's hard, but overall I'd say yes. As I said before, risk is what life is all about, as with it comes thrill and excitement. Six, I don't want to involve anyone who doesn't need to be. Because the other side of risk is the pain of loss, and I want to keep them away from it. Seven... That's probably the hardest question you could ask me. But given I'm forced to reply, I'd say yes. But only to a certain degree, as to keep your side of the risk minimal. Eight, she's the kindest woman I know. Hard working, diligent, caring... she's the perfect mother. But she's worked herself too hard, and aged herself far beyond her years. She always looks like she's ready to collapse at any moment, and I want to let her rest. Nine, I'd do anything if it meant making her life better. If getting out of it would solve our issues, then sure. But if not, I'd stick to the trouble. And ten? That's easy," he said, laughing and pausing for a few moments before finally giving his answer. "Because it's my problem to fix. Everything happened because of my dad, and the sins of the father become the burden of the son. Especially since I'm following the path he's laid out for me. It's not a path that anyone else needs to walk if I can help it."

One he had finished his own answers, he stopped walking, slightly tugging Akari's arm to signal as such. "Now, I believe we had a wager. You wished to guess as to the nature of what I do, and I wanted to ask as to why you created your alias. This time I believe it fair to let you have the first guess. It's your choice what to do from there," he said, slightly loosening his grip on her hand. After all he had just said, combined with what he'd said in the past, she had to have figured it out by now. If she was going to run, now was the time, and he wanted to make it clear that he wouldn't stop her if that was her choice, even if he desperately hoped she wouldn't.

It wouldn't stop him from chasing after her if she did run, though, as he had his own guess to make - and possibly a favor to earn.
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Miharu Yoshikuni
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As Akari felt Naoki's grip loosen, she had the slightest instinct to pull away and indeed retreat. Granted, she knew that wasn't going to do any good and she felt she respected Naoki enough to let him "guess" it, if ever. She merely offered a small and kept holding his hand as he guided her forward.

"That sounds fair enough," she said thoughtfully. "Hmm, well, from what you told me, and from what practicality often lets me guess for one's ability to do not-so-honest-work for money, I'd assume you take things. I'm not sure as to what degree, but perhaps you pickpocket or break into houses. I can't imagine you hurting anyone for money, though, like mugging them or killing someone. You don't feel like the type. But perhaps you're that good at deceiving me."

She said the latter part a little more playfully and couldn't help but hold back a giggle. Not that she wanted him to be a killer. But if he did turn out to be one, thank god she had a very literal guardian angel who could protect her. Speaking of guardian angels, she assumed someone might have noticed she was gone by now. In fact, how far was this next place of theirs? They had been walking for some time and Akari was legitimately "blind" in knowing where they were going.
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Chidarake
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As Akari finished her answer, Naoki gave off a small laugh. "Oh, but if you really believed I was deceiving you... wouldn't your hand be a little closer to here?" he joked, tightening his grip again before bringing her hand up to her eye level. After a moment, though, he let gravity take over again, their hands falling back down. "I'm impressed though. Honestly, I knew you had probably figured it out, but you went even further. It's true, I hate the idea of hurting people. It's what got my father locked away and me in the situation I'm in now. And even though most people would probably be running right now, you guessed that and you stayed. Really impressive," Naoki said, looking up at the night sky as he spoke the last two words.

He quickly recovered, though, returning his gaze to Akari. "Well, that's one for you. Anything you want done, I'll see it done. Now, let's see if I can earn the same prize. So, why did you create an alias..." he said, looking her up and down as he tried to gather his thoughts. Did he know the girl next to him well enough to answer the question he had proposed? Did he even ask the right questions to lead him to the answer?

Did it really matter? Well, of course it mattered. He wasn't about to lose at his own game, was he?

So, after another few moments of piecing his mind together, Naoki began his own answer. "...Actually, I believe you've already answered it yourself. You wanted to get away from whatever this other thing you mentioned was, and so you started to go out on a few nightly escapades of your own. But instead of letting you escape, for some reason it only led to you feeling even more trapped. Thus, the prison known as 'Shiori' was created, and for whatever reason, you don't want to let go of it. Was it the handsome face I had hidden under the mask?" he said, finishing his reply off with a small joke.

It was a gamble, for sure, but he didn't have enough information to make a concrete guess, and from what he knew of her so far she wouldn't make it easy for him. Which meant a less likely answer was actually probably more likely, leading him to take the long shot and hope it hit its mark. But before she had time to confirm his guess, he knocked on the side of the building next to him, the hollow sound of wood slightly echoing between the houses. "Our next stop, by the way," he said flatly, beginning to lead her around towards the back door, his mind racing as he waited for either confirmation or denial.
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Miharu Yoshikuni
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Again, Akari would grow quiet as she contemplated her answer. She'd make a small hum as she thought about how to answer.

"Hmmm..."

She'd then brighten up and have a big smile on her face.

"Nope!" Akari said perkily, albeit bluntly.

Really, if she could tell a person who constantly confessed their love to her and asked to marry her on a daily basis, she could say no to this. She eventually giggled though.

"Silly Naoki," she said. "First and foremost, I'm blind. How on earth would I be able to tell you're handsome? Albeit, you're quite charming, that I won't deny. But more importantly..."

This time her playful smile softened. Her fake eyes stared blankly in the distance, but still conveyed the meditation that was in play in Akari's head.

"I know it's all an act, and I know that eventually, I'll perhaps have to face the truth. But for the briefest moment, 'Shiori' provided me the respite of...not being me," she said. "I'm not sure that makes entire sense, but basically, as I've already told you, it allowed me to not be someone burdened with a secret. Not heavily weighted with loss and longing or guilt or privilege or obligation. I was just a random girl who liked to sing, and that was all."



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Chidarake
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Naoki got a bit hopeful as Akari went quiet and began to think, but was quickly shot down and disappointed. And she apparently didn't get that he was making that joke on purpose, but that part didn't matter. Her explanation made sense, but after he recovered from the initial shock of her answer, his own gears began turning. If it was that simple, why not say so immediately? What did she have to think about? And one thing Naoki had learned to embrace was the idea that where there's smoke, there's fire.

She was still hiding something.

But he apparently wasn't going to get it out of her by normal means. He could do something drastic to throw her off balance... but he'd save that as a last resort. For now, he had a better idea. "Well, it looks like that's a double loss for me. Since you're the honest one here, I'm sure you're still following our rule about being open, so I'll accept defeat like a man. Two things, anything you want me to do. Doesn't even have to be tonight if you can't think of anything. But I'm at your beck and call, as according to you, I've completely guessed wrong," he said, putting as much disappointment into his voice as he could, though he couldn't hide a smile. Thankfully she couldn't see that.

He opened the back door to the house, ready to lead her into his little hideout that he was fairly certain they wouldn't be discovered at until she was ready to leave, but paused before walking inside. He just couldn't help but add on one more little thing first. "Though, take it from me, a fake name is still going to be you. A prison like that can't be escaped on your own... as you well know, since you say you're the one keeping yourself in it," he said in a serious tone. "But I can get you out. If you ever want to escape, just give the word. Fortunately enough, my own prison gives me the ability to free others from theirs," he finished, then moved to cross the threshold into the house, heading towards a hidden door that led to the basement.
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