An Unexpected Return [nsfw]

"That is okay. Its my turn, remember?" Aoi nodded, reaching out and taking Rin's arm as she leaned against it lightly. They left the cloth shop as Aoi led them once again into the street. Next stop pottery stall! Which was only one stall down, so they didn't have far to walk.

Smiling, she tugged Rin in that direction. It was a small stand outside, like the cloth shop with more inside. But... outside it was a lovely set of cups and a few vases. All were done in the traditional style with imperfections and lovely colors. Aoi was drawn to one that was almost a pure white with dark blue petals floating across it. "Oooh would Ruka like this one? Or the snow one... or the sunflower one?"

When they reached the pottery stall Rin could admit he was surprised by all the nice looking things there, all handcrafted and such...He looked over to the ones Aoi's attention was on, looking over them as she asked which Ruka would prefer.

"Hmm, I think she'd prefer the one with the blue petals." She liked styles like that and often had painted pictures at the studio of similar scenery, though obviously she painted more than just petal patterns in the piece.

"Hm... okay." Aoi looked at it, then at Rin and then at it again before hmming to herself. Her eyes narrowed in concentration as she thought carefully...

"...You should pick it up and hand it over, I am no good with delicate things and you are." Finally coming to decision, she pulled out the purse from her kimono again.

Rin gave a nod and did as suggested, picking the piece up and handing it over to be bought as he made sure to be careful with it. Ruka would like this a lot, he was glad they'd found something for her.

Aoi smiled as she paid for the item, waiting to let Rin hold it was it was wrapped carefully. As she waited for him to take the item, she checked her purse with a pleased smile.

"Ah! Just enough! We can get some small fireworks if you want them, like sparklers." She was happy and pointed to the nearby small stand selling such small things. Her body quivered a bit, she was vibrating like she had before when they had been in human world.

"That's good, some sparkles seem like a good idea." Rin replied, glancing over to where the fireworks stall was located as Aoi pointed it out. "Its been awhile since I've played around with them, it'll be fun."

Once, when Ruka had taken him to one of the festivals a little while after he began living at home again, she'd gotten them sparkles...and had promptly chased him around with them for fun the first time. When the chasing had stopped though it had been fun having them.

"Yay! Sparklers! Fun!" Laughing a bit, more than happy with Rin being okay with them, Aoi hurried over to the stand. The person behind it seemed surprised at her enthusiasm, but Aoi didn't notice as she shook slightly while trying to figure out the best ones.

Picking out a few colors, she handed them over and paid while holding them with the happiest expression. Sparkles seemed to float from her head, happy flower ones.

Now they had sparklers, that was good and Rin couldn't help but smile at how happy Aoi seemed to be. She'd picked out a few different colored ones and later one they'd get to put them to use. It would nice, more enjoyable things they could do together.

"Aaah now to the inn! We should drop stuff off." Aoi's arms were rather full as she smiled up at Rin, glancing to the sky. Hoours until sunset, they would find things to do till then and...she wanted to talk with him more about things now that they were far away. Turning away from Rin, she pointed to the large sign down the street, which people were walking in and out of the door right under it.

It looked nice from here and she gestured him to follow.

"That sounds like a good idea." They had a lot of things, it'd be easier to continue if they were dropped off. It would be awhile before the sun started setting so they had time to spare before then.

When Aoi pointed towards the inn he began following her towards the building.

Nodding, Rin thought it was a good idea!, Aoi led them inside and to a desk. After paying for an upstairs room, she moved up the stairs with a happy smile and humming. Their room was at the end of the hallway and she unlocked and slide open the door. It was one room, with a small table and cushions as well as a closet. Walking inside, she set the things down with a cat stretch and bent straight over to check the closet.

"Aaah the futons should be in the closet for sleeping later, I want to see if its gonna fit us both easy." Aoi shuffled through it.

Rin was silently impressed with the inn, mostly because he'd never experienced being in a traditional room like this one before considering how modern his home was.

The futon, right, that was something to make sure of. It'd be bad if they both couldn't fit in it...

"Alright, here; need help?" He asked, moving over to Aoi and the closet as she shuffled through it.

"Nope! Well, you can lay it out with me..." Aoi nodded as she finally found it. The others were cushions and blankets for all weather. They were soft and useful but not something anyone staying here would steal.

Pulling out the heavier thick padding, she waited for Rin's help unrolling it. "I asked for a room for a couple... So... we should get a slightly bigger futon or two. Hm does this look big enough?"

Unrolling it, it wasn't anything near his bed size...but honestly the pair of them slept cuddle up to each other. So a smaller bed would be fine... and with both their sizes even a single might be fine...

Rin helped Aoi unroll it, examining the futon when they'd done so. It certainly wasn't as large as his bed was but it should be big enough, they slept close in the first place so a lot of room wasn't that necessary.

"I think it should be big enough, we sleep close so I think it's fine. What do you think?"

"Mm. It should be perfect! Though less comfy than yours. It's what I am used to though, this reminds me of my barracks..." Aoi looked around with a small grin, a bit embarrassed by admitting that. Rin's house was rather modern and western in style, much more than anything she had been used to in fact.

Looking at the futon, she gave a sigh and then threw herself onto it and laid there flat with her arms and legs spread out. Her voice was a bit muffled as she spoke, her face buried the thick padding but she turned it. "...is everything really okay? After what I told you?"

Rin looked down at Aoi as she flopped down onto the futon which he brought himself down to sit next to just as she began speaking. Her words though...

He raised a brow, not saying anything before he moved; almost moving lie over her as his fingers went to her sides. She'd been ticklish...that he remembered.

"Mm? What was that?" He asked, his chin on her shoulder near her ear. "Was it doubt? Am I going to need to reassure you?"

Though the tickling for Aoi was probably more like punishment...Still, he could make up for it later with actual reassurance. He wanted the atmosphere to remain lighthearted at least a little longer so he'd pushed out some confidence to perform these actions...

He smiled though, nuzzling his head into her hair before planting a light kiss there as he stopped his fingers. "It's alright, it's really okay. I promise."

"Hm? Rin? Wh-AH!' Letting out a startled squeak, Aoi tried to flip but instead was caught in Rin's evil snare of tickles. She had been shocked by his moving over top of her...thinking he wanted something else but... this was better. OR worse.

As she laughed and moved a bit, she felt his head right near her ear as he spoke softly. "H-How...is...reassuring?! AHAHAHA~!"

Aoi's voice was broken up by the laughter as she blushed bright red. Rin's words...his tone was killing her as surely as a lack of air was going to as she squirmed in his evil tickled grip. She was crying from laughter and was about to flip around and destroy Rin when he stopped, her body stilling immediately as he kissed her head and nuzzled it.

Still flushed a shy red, she looked at the bed. His...words made her feel better. "O-Okay...you promised so... Rin! You're still evil. I don't forgive you for tickling me!"

He gave a laugh at her retort, he could stand being evil; he'd been wanting to try tickling her since he'd found out she was ticklish.

Rin moved, sitting up enough for her to turn if she wanted.

"Sorry." He chuckled. "I couldn't resist."

Once Rin moved, Aoi didn't feel like flipping around so he could see her blushing face. However...she felt like seeing him. With a small pouty frown, she flipped over since it seemed its what he wanted... even if his laughs had been nice and made her more blushy. Looking off to the side, her cheeks puffed up. She wouldn't glance at Rin. She wouldn't give him that satisfaction.

"I bet you couldn't. Since you are evil, you were tempted to do evil things. Like...tickles."

"That's right." Rin chuckled, his finger coming up to lightly and playfully poke at one of her puffed cheeks. "I meant it though, that things are alright and I do promise that."

His hand that'd been poking at her cheek moved up to her hair as he smiled down at her. He wanted her to know that he was serious about saying that, that things were alright...

Aoi held firm, her puffy pout cheek getting more air to stop it from being deflated by the evil Rin's attempts at removal of the pout. Her eyes narrowed as he spoke more, attempting to stay utterly pouty but...well honestly he was too sweet.

"I trust you!" With a happy cry, her arms wrapped around his neck and pulled his head down a bit as hers came up to kiss him.

Rin returned the kiss, having given a small laugh before their lips connected at her rather cheery response.

He was glad she seemed alright about it now, though he couldn't know that for sure. If she needed more reassuring he'd do so, things really were alright and he wanted her to know and believe that.

Aoi pulled back from the kiss, moving her head slightly to nuzzle Rin's cheek. He didn't need to know things still bothered her... and who knew? Maybe just thinking on other things for now would be nice.

"Mm, we should get some sake for tonight and... I wonder what else we should do. Would you like to see more of the Rukon? You seem interested in older Japanese stuff. Are you fully Japanese yourself? I'm...not actually."

"I...I'm not quite sure, honestly." Rin answered,  becoming thoughtful for a moment. "I think it's safe to say a majority of my family is but...I don't think they were all Japanese. I just have interest in the traditional style, since my home is so modern places and things like everything here catch my interest."

He'd need to look that up though, he couldn't remember if he had ever researched it or not though if he had he would have thought he'd remember it.

Rin gave a smile though, "I think exploring some more might be nice, some sake sounds good as well."

His tolerance was average, so he wasn't sure how well he'd be able to hold such a drink but...he'd try to moderate himself...

"Oooh! That sounds cool, having a family tree to look up!" Aoi smiled, one hand slipping into Rin's hair and teasing it with her fingers. He kept it so soft, how could she resist it? "Maybe I could do it with you? I'd...think it'd be fun."

Smiling, she decided since he liked the older style of things she would show him as much as she could. "Well... in a bit we can get dinner. That'll be older styled. The market was that way... Mm, if you want a bath they have bathhouses here but you have to be fine with nudity among other guys if you want to blend in. And I can buy sake at a rather nice place nearby! Be careful it'll be strong... Can you handle being drunk out here?"