>* WICKED !

It was cute, but at the same time, somewhat hilarious. It's been a while since he had someone to actually banter with. Like it was stated before, his crew just respected him too much for this sort of thing. This was... really refreshing actually.

"What? Too shy to tell me 'bout yer past relationships?" He inquired, hoping to see more of the embarrassed Ayase.

"Ain't nothin' wrong 'bout bein' friends with yer exes," Zuma teasingly remarked, although it was somewhat ironic coming from the delinquent, as he had very little experience in serious romantic commitments.

       ❝   Am  not!   ❞   Another  forceful  pound  of  her  foot,  her  balled  fists  coming  down  once  with  it.  The  ever-bright  flush  to  her  face  told  a  different  story.   ❝   I'll  have  you  know  I've  only  had  ONE  boyfriend!  ONE!  And  we  are  so  not  friends!   ❞   In  fact,  she  hadn't  spoken  to  him  since  the  day  they'd  ‘  broken  up  ‘  and  she’d  thought  about  him  even  less.   ❝   So  I  dunno  what  yer  tryna  get  at!   ❞

       He  was  teasing  her  and  she  was  falling  hook,  line,  and  sinker,  but  she  couldn't  help  it! 

But Unji couldn't help it. This is how he viewed himself. These people were at their lowest point in their lives when Zuma met them, and now that they're better, it's up to him to make sure they keep themselves away from the pit they were found in.

However, Unji took a few seconds of silence pondering her last words. In a way, Unji was also taken care of. It's thanks to those guys that he has a purpose in his life. Truth be told, the young delinquent could have fallen back on his old ways if he weren't so focused on helping these kids become better than him.

Huh... maybe the girl had a point.

"Ya can be annoyingly smart sometimes, ya know that?" He spoke with a sigh. "Ya have a point... the guys help me a lot, so it ain't one-sided."

This conversation was too uncomfortably focused on him; he had to shift it somehow. Otherwise, he might start spilling his guts to her again.

Twice in a convo is more than enough, thank you very much!

Not that he doesn't trust Ayase. It's the opposite actually; that's why he didn't want to say something that might be a bit much for a casual convo.

"Guess that explains why Clingy Boyfriend is so protective of ya." He shifted the convo back to her and her friends.

       ❝   I  know.~   ❞   Spoken  lightheartedly,  of  course,  followed  by  an  equally  buoyant  ‘  hehe  ’.  She  was  a  genius,  after  all!  But  her  composure  was  just  as  promptly  rattled  by  his  follow-up. 

       ❝   ---!!   ❞   Face  flared  and  a  stomp  to  her  food,   ❝   Who  ya  callin'  ‘  clingy  boyfriend  ’?  I  am  single,  thank  you  very  much!   ❞   And  she'd  have  him  remember  so!  For  as  common  a  nickname  as  it  may  have  been  between  Jiji  and  Zuma,  it  had  completely  dodged  her  radar.   (   With  how  often  they  got  into  verbal  tiffs,  it  was  hard  not  to  tune  it  out.   )   ❝   Yer  def  just tryna  change  the  subject!   ❞   That  much  was  obvious.

G radually, sluggishly, her syllables had come in contact with his ears. -------- Emphasizing her name, Momo, so he wouldn't forget it this time, albeit he never had, in all actuality. He's analyzed the submitted reports, familiarized himself with the noteworthy objectives of the assignment, and the accessible yet ambiguous explanation of this woman's abilities long before this rendezvous took place. ----- A thorough sorcerer to the very core of his bones he evermore was, despite being difficult at times.

Ultimately, do cobalt-hued eyes greet her countenance, selecting to take matters more stringently than to proceed with this unbeneficial juvenility any further. " -- You should save your strength for the mission. Who knows what we may face in that abandoned building we're meant to investigate. " he states, his demeanor wholly dissimilar, shifted into his working persona." Have you been informed of our duties, or should I brief you on the essential details...Momo? " Extremities now in pockets.

       Ugh!  The  nerve  of  this  guy  to  scold  her  after  such  a  childish  display  himself!   ❝   I  know  that!   ❞   Huff,  huff.  She  had  significant  experience  in  dealing  with  the  supernatural  already,  she'd  have  him  know! 

which , honestly , you could work with . there was hardly a skipped beat between her closing the door and your wandering hum as you encroached upon the hallway washer - dryer units . with no prying eyes you were allowed to indulge in your baser sensibilities . people smell the clothes of someone they like , right ? it was normal ! there was a way the blood mixed with the sweat and perfume that could make a charge of c4 salivate .

you weren't an animal though , the clothes would be washed before long , and after rooting around in your closet eventually you'd have some replacement pajamas . plain as they were . they were more or less the same size ; though reze was a little thinner .

knock , knock , knock !

       The  water  tended  to  her  wounds  as  expected,  soothing  her  aches  and  easing  her  pains.  Her  eyes  had  fluttered  shut  only  seconds  after  she'd  submerged  herself  and,  for  the  first  time  in  hours,  she  finally  relaxed.  Save  for  the  plink-plink  of  water  droplets  when  she'd  adjust,  it  was  quiet.  Reze  must  have  been  walking  about  to  get  her  clothes  done,  but  the  only  indication  there  was  another  person  present  in  the  apartment  at  all  was  the  minute  squeak  of  a  floorboard  and  the  washer's  coming  to  life  with  a  beep. 

       Her  eyes  opened  a  fraction  while  her  mind  wandered  once  more.  Questions  weighed  heavily  on  her  mind,  her  suspicion  heightened  despite  her  dire  wish  for  her  to  be  wrong  ;  for  all  just  to  be  a  misunderstanding  rather  than  glaring  red  flags.  She  had  resigned  herself  to  waiting  ‘til  later  to  address  her  concerns,  but  how  was  she  supposed  to  bring  them  up  anyway? 

’  Hey,  kinda  weird  how  you  showed  up  outta  nowhere  ‘nd  aren’t  fazed  by  aliens  ‘nd  your  place  is,  like,  weirdly  empty  for  a  girl  on  her  own  and----  '                                                                                                                                                               Yeah  right. 

       Her  brows  furrowed  then.  How  frustrating  … 

       ❝   ---!!   ❞   The  knock  at  the  door  startled  her  but  she  was  quick  to  recenter.   ❝   Who  ya  callin'  old  man?   ❞   Sigh.   ❝   Thanks,  you  can  leave  ‘em  at  the  door.   ❞   Then,  with  a  flush  to  her  face  (   that  was  totally  due  to  the  heat  of  the  water   )  and  a  slight  scowl,   ❝   ‘Nd  I’ve  got  it.   ❞   Reze  was  an  odd  one  —  ah,  but  wasn't  everyone  she  had  since  come  close  to?  Momo  herself  was  an  acquired  taste.

The young man thought about her words about his crew wanting to follow him wherever, which made him look away, hands in his pockets.

Sure, they would follow him to hell and back, but it was mostly because they were in hell in the first place. Zuma wasn't a leader of them, he was more like... their safe haven.

"It ain't like a leader thing, it's more that they have nowhere to go." He looked up, reminiscing about when he met each member of his crew in their darkest times. "I'm their caretaker if anythin'."

"I honestly could use someone like you in my crew, someone who knows what the fuck they're even doin'." He scratched the back of his head with an annoyed sigh.

"Why am I tellin' you all this?! It ain't like we're best buddies or nothin', did ya cast some sorcerer magic on me?!" The last part was meant in jest to lighten the mood a bit.

This was all very new to him, Unji was sort of a hard guy to really know. Even his own crew saw him as this tough guy who has it all together. And yet, there he was, just spilling his guts to a girl he didn't know that well.

Did he like her or something? Was that it?! He fell for the girl who already had two dudes fighting for her? Goddammit Unji, like your life isn't messy enough!

       Embarrassed  she  totally  was!  How  was  she  supposed  to  navigate  this  sort  of  thing?  They  didn't  know  each  other  that  well  —  though  they  had  shared  a  life-or-death  experience  —  and  she  struggled  with  earnest  praise  even  from  her  closest  companions.  But  for  as  frazzled  as  it  made  her,  she  was  relatively  quick  to  regain  composure.   (   If  need  be,  she  could  mull  about  it  later.   ) 

‘  …  more  that  they  have  nowhere  to  go  …  ’ 

       Did  he  believe  that?  There's  a  slight  but  contemplative  tilt  to  her  head.  ‘  Caretaker  ’,  huh?  That  wasn't  generally  what  one  would  consider  themselves  for  their  friends,  was  it?  For  as  much  trouble  as  her  own  crew  could  be,  it  was  a  mutually  beneficial  ;  they  helped  each  other.  No  way  would  she  consider  herself  —  or  any  other  in  her  group  for  that  matter  —  a  ‘  caretaker  ’.  They  were  allies  ;  confidants.  She  had  thought  he  had  felt  the  same  for  his.

       Then  there's  the  sentimentality  again!  Ah,  but  this  time  she  had  something  else  to  direct  her  attention  to. 

Too late had the error of his words dawned on him as Ryuji had never invited a girl to his house, before - hell, he'd never even spoken to a girl for longer than a few minutes…! Boy, he was beginning to realize just how out of his depth he was…! "H-Huh…?!" His eyes went completely wide as it seemed that hadn't even occurred to him and naturally, his instincts kicked into overdrive…! "I-I didn't…! I-I mean…!" He found himself helplessly flailing his arms - once more finding himself on the back foot and totally at her mercy here…! "C-C'mon, y'know what I mean…!" Uh, hopefully she did…!

Although that did bring up another major issue - had he cleaned his room recently...?!

       Laughter  left  her  in  bubbles,  light  and  airy,  a  knuckle  gently  placed  at  her  lips.  Really,  he  did  it  to  himself.  Of  course  she  knew  what  he  meant,  but  how  could  she  pass  up  such  a  prime  opportunity  to  frazzle  him?  He  had  practically  forced  her  hand  here! 

" A name that happened to have slipped my mind. - How unfortunate. " Unquestionable sarcasm, a pattern of speech housed within him since his days of youth, remains adhered to his tongue as he answers in turn, deliberately avoiding eye contact. He could discern her negative energy and would rather not confront it. " I'm Fushiguro Megumi. -- You are? "