A Hard Day's Work

"Well... I just never did, I mean... life is difficult out here, but..." He just...never had, he didn't really feel like he'd fit in much when it came to...being in an academy, he was so accustomed to traveling around... "I travel a lot...so being in one place like that would feel so... I wouldn't say bad, I can't judge it by that...perhaps odd?"

Odd...seemed like the best word he could come up with...

He knew he was perfectly capable of becoming a shinigami, he had spiritual power...could form rather decently sized balls of reiatsu in his hand...even do tricks with them, but...

"Mm... Y-yeah." She sunk a little. It really did sound like things were hard around here.. And if he were a shinigami, he certainly wouldn't be able to travel around a lot.

"So that's your style, hm? Drifting from town to town, causing trouble, breaking poor girls' hearts?" Her imagination was certainly an active one, coming up with that after so little information.

"Well, if you're happy with yourself, that's what matters, yes?"

"E-Eh? W-Well... Yes, traveling is just the way I go about life; it's fun...when you have the means of doing so. Luckily I have enough working-skill to make the money I need."

Breaking hearts though? H-Had he? He hadn't... No one had ever cried when he left? He had never seen anyone upset... Had he?

If he ever returned to districts he'd once visited he'd need to subtly find out...perhaps apologize if need be...

A nod was given though at the final question; "Mhm, I'm happy like this~ I'm free to go about as I please..." Obviously there were dangers, the Rukon was by absolutely no means safe...but he had a sword, and knew how to use it well; besides, he was also good at escaping, so things were fine!

She giggled. "Well I'm glad it's fun. What sort of skills do you have, hmm?" She asked, intrigued herself at what he did for money.

She tried not to giggle at the quiet. Had she flustered him with her question? Well, she supposed that hadn't been entirely outside of her purpose. Her own work skills allowed her to travel. More necessitated it, really. Not that she was short on money persay.

"Well that's good. It's hard but at least you have your freedom."

"Ah well, skills... I can perform tricks with condensed reiatsu, as I explained before...and I often perform with this at restaurants or bars...or just on the streets in general." He added, pointing to the shamisen instrument currently settled on his back.

Other than that...

"Other than that, I can run jobs for people; deliveries, organization, minding the shops...stocking...and other things at that. After so long I just learned how to handle most jobs others throw at me."

At that, another smile was given; "Mhm, it's nice to be able to do as I please; it's fun..."

"Well. You really DO have a multitude of talents." She said with a smirk. Performance, performance with that instrument... whatever the hell it was. And a hard worker to boot.

"Don't forget you escort pretty journalists across town." She added, brushing the hair out of her face, with a coy smile.

"I interview prominent figures in the various worlds and publish them in a magazine." She knew it was distributed in the Rukon, but she wasn't sure which areas or if a drifter would have read it.

"Ahaha..." He supposed; living out here knowing how to do all types of jobs could really help you. He got by just fine thanks to that. Sometimes he had days where he was low on money, and had to make tough choices...but overall he'd been fine!

Plus, it was good to stick close to the...safer districts as well, even if he had to pass through a few of the much more dangerous ones at times in his life.

He listened as Alison explained her own job; a journalist...? She interviewed people...in the various different worlds! Uwaaa~ That was actually pretty impressive! She had them published...

"That's really impressive! I've...never been able to come across one before, unfortunately; I should start keeping my eye out!" There was no telling what districts sold this thing she published, but he would keep an eye out; he knew her name now...so perhaps he would know it when he saw it!

She giggled, placing a hand on her hip. "Yup! It is pretty impressive!" She said, a bit of a haughty tone to her voice. She was proud of her journalistic skills, though she was a little sad that poor Naomi hadn't had a chance to read it. "Well.. I'll make sure to get you an issue, some time." She said, knowing it was a fairly hollow promise considering the odds on seeing him after this.

"Hmmm. What kind of misadventures have you had? Maybe I could interview you?" She said, giving him a quick wink.

"Aha~ Let's hope I can read it someday." There was certainly no guarantee they'd run into each other again, he knew that; he would certainly keep an eye out for her work though and see about reading on of the interviews she'd done.

Eh? Hn... Him though?

"Misadventures? Wellll... I wouldn't say I've run into anything especially noteworthy?" He mused, looking as if he were thinking hard on his words; "Nothing you wouldn't see out in Rukon normally; dealing with thugs, learning to handle my blade, figuring out tricks to do with the reiatsu...

There are a few beautiful places I've seen, traveling about as I do... I could always recommend a few districts to visit, but aha..."

That didn't seem the most noteworthy to him, sure...he could recommend districts, but it wasn't like it was especially simple getting to them... Carriages...sure, but even those took hours, sometimes days worth of travel to get to a destination with...

"You will. I'll see to it. I promise." She said resolutely. He was walking her all this way... How far was it, anyway? They had to be close. They'd been walking for hours now.

"Oh? That's noteworthy to me." She said, with sudden interest. "You seem so nice and sweet. I have trouble seeing you so... I dunno... dangerous.." She said with a chuckle. "ARE you dangerous?" She asked as a follow up. She had to admit, it'd be pretty cool if he was.

"By the way... Are we almost there? I'm getting pretty tired of walking..." She groaned.

"Well, I have to be able to defend myself, right?" A chuckle was given at that statement; "I wouldn't say dangerous, I have no ill intentions, but I do need to have the ability to intimidate an enemy if they intend to harm.

That, or if I judge that they're too troublesome to deal with, I'll flee if I'm the only one they're after. I can escape scenario's like that quite easily." Considering his build, he was quick on his feet, and could fit into narrower alleyways if need be, and quickly use objects as a form of lever to put escape on a higher level if necessary...

"Hm, ah well...the districts are quite large, and by foot it can take quite awhile... If you'd like we can stop and rest? There are typically buildings scattered about the paths in between...eating establishments along with inn's attached for weary travelers...considering what district we're in...there should be some, in the districts deeper back and away from the Seireitei we'd be rather out of luck..."

Luckily though, while they weren't up close to the Seireitei by far...they were still in what was considered the nicer area...

Alison glanced over, chuckling a little. He did seem like he could be a bit cocky when he wanted to be. She wondered what it said about her that now that he was discussing his abilities, she wanted to try and put them down. What could she say, she was a contrarian.

She stopped all her contrary thinking and stopped in her tracks as well. "Wh.. Wha? I came out THAT far off? H-Holy shit... I didn't know the districts were so big.." She said, exasperated and trudging back up to him.

"Yeah... We can stay in an inn or something... I'll... I'll pay for it. Daaaamn." She sighed. "Well are there at least any nice places around? I'm not strapped for cash."

She hadn't...realized? That caught him by surprise for a moment as he came to a stop just a few feet away from her. Well... Alison did visit...all the different worlds, apparently so...perhaps the size of the Rukon Districts were something that was easy to forget.

This world was large...very large...

They would stop at the next inn then, and a nod was given at that. "Alright, we'll stop at the next inn for rest... It's already in the afternoon anyway...it would be best to, we can get food and stop; traveling at night's not safe."

Even if one knew how to defend themselves, unless they had night vision there was always a chance something bad would happen.

It would still be awhile until they got to the next district, but...there should be an inn nearby; if they kept walking they'd certainly come across one eventually...

"If you'd like we can stop and rest for a bit now?" He didn't seem tired in the least, but he was accustomed to constant walking over hours...but he was perfectly ready to stop so Alison could catch her breath...

She frowned, blushing a little and playing with her hair, feeling self conscious about her lack of knowledge. Especially for somewhere she'd visited before. She sighed. "Alright. I suppose I am hungry. And hey, you can eat all you like." She said, looking on the bright side.

"Hmm. I'm not particularly worried but... who wants to walk all night, right?" She said with a shrug before walking up to him.

"Hm? Rest?" She smirked and tipped her head. "Do I seem that fragile to you?" She said with a little indignant snort. "but I don't mind taking a break from walking.. Say, Naomi... How good ARE you with a blade?" She asked suddenly.

"Right, right~ Once we find the place we'll get food." Seemed like a plan; they would have a place to stop and rest, and would be able to get food to fill their stomachs. Perhaps they'd have what he'd planned on eating earlier...hn...

It wasn't good to walk at night, even without worries; Alison was right though, who wanted to when night was meant for resting.

"E-Eh? You said you were tired of walking? I just assumed...that a break might be best?" He didn't mean it to sound like something offensive! He'd just noticed... She had stated she was tired of walking!

H-Huh? His blade?

"Ah, well...I have a few centuries worth of practice with it..." He'd had taken up a sword when he'd reached his teens...needing to since it was hard to defend himself any other way that wasn't running...

She sighed and turned to walk away, glancing over her shoulder at him with a smirk. "Just because I don't feel like walking doesn't mean I'm not capable." She said, feeling the sass building. She needed to put a throttle on it. He was being very nice, she should be nice too.

"It's okay. Thanks for being considerate." She said, walking over to a stone wall and leaning against it. "Oh? More than me... Though I like to think I'm pretty good." She said, glancing over at him. He did still have one of her pen blades.

She pulled the pen out of her pocket and activated, the blue blade extending quickly. "Wanna see who's better?" She asked with a mischievous grin.

"I apologize if it seemed like I'd offended you though, aha..." His chuckle was a sheepish one this time, but he really did mean the apology. It was true...one could be sick of something but still be capable of doing it...

He stopped next to the wall as Alison leaned back against it, listening to her as she spoke, happy that she knew he was just trying to be considerate before...

"H-Heh!?" See who's better!? His eyes went to the pen she still held, watching as she formed the blue blade with it. Well, it was blue...but... What!?

Alison giggled, enjoying his surprised little reaction. She shifted her weight and stood up straight, holding the blade loosely at her side. She placed one fist on her hip and leaned on it a little. "Heh?" She mimicked him before giggling, all in good nature. "What? You've been talking about your sword skills all day. I'm curious."

She twirled the sword at her side, stifling another little smirk. "Besides. sparring with sticks isn't exactly the same. And come on. You don't think it'd be a little fun?" She asked, glancing up and down the road. She sighed. "But I understand. If you're scared..."

He... He had been talking about them because she'd asked about his skills! He hadn't meant it to seem like...like he was cocky about them or something! She wanted...wanted to spar now!?

"E-Eh... I..." He didn't know what to say! She was challenging him to...to technically a spar, but... "I am not afraid of a spar, but-!" It wasn't that he was afraid, not in the slightest, but... but just...just what-!?

What if their clothes got dirty, what if they were ripped!? He didn't have the money for repairs right now!

One some level, Alison knew she was being unreasonable and, honestly, a pain. But she just didn't focus on things like that. She giggled a little at his distressed reaction.

"Oh? You sound like you're more afraid of the blue blade than you would be a real one." She sighed and the blade retracted before she pocketed the pen. "But I understand. If you don't think you're going to win, it'd be scary to get your clothes sliced up." She said, half understanding, half teasing.

She frowned, realizing she'd just challenged a stranger to a fight-to-the-nudity. Geez, Alison, you need to get your shit together.

"I can assure you, I am not afraid; I...would just not like to take the risk of damaging our clothing, repairs depending on the district can be expensive." He answered, shaking his head as if to further say he wasn't afraid. "The clothes on my back are all I have currently...so it's..."

Getting them torn up would leave him with nothing...nothing aside from repair charges...that or in need of buying new clothes altogether. These were rather new, and he had been taking great care of them so far!

If they had to worry about clothing, food, and boarding... That was too much!

Alison had a small coy smile, like a perched snake idly watching prey. There was just a touch of insecurity to it though. She wasn't really smooth.. She just... knew what smooth looked like... "Oh? I believe you, I do." She said, her smile widening.

It quickly drooped into a frown though. His clothes were all he had? That was... She suddenly felt bad for challenging him. What seemed inconsequential to her was a major setback to him...

"Hmm... Well... Are you a gambler?" She asked, her smile widening to a sly grin. "What about... if you win... I'll give you enough to buy five sets of clothes?" She was by no means strapped for cash and while she suspected he would be too proud to take donations, well...

A gambler...?

Not...necessarily, he had visited a few gambling dens as a bodyguard and such at one point, and had seen gamblers...well...doing what they do best, but had not ever actually taken a part of any bets or anything...

Five sets of clothes though? W-What would he do with that many... At most he could get a sack and carry around a second set, but... Clothes could be quite overpriced here if you wanted quality...that was a problem...

Well, she was speaking money not actual clothes...

His eyes shifted down to the pen he still held of hers, they were meant to spark using...these? Using his sword would be too much of a disadvantage considering hers would just cut through it...

Wait...

That meant...

If he won then what about her own attire!?

The realization of that, and the shock that went along with it was obvious on his expression. He... Causing such a thing-!

Alison watched Naomi contemplate it, growing awkward during the silence. She looked around, awkwardly holding one arm with the other. The more time went on, the more she thought about the situation and felt increasingly, well... awkward about it...

The idea had crossed her mind earlier when he'd been messing with it and now she felt like she was just sort of... pushing this scenario. She sighed, taking a sullen step forward, sulking a little. "It's fine, you don't need to gamble or anything." She said with a slight listlessness to her voice. "I was just being silly." She admitted.

"I-I am... I would just not want us to ruin our clothing; it's common for people to overcharge when it comes to tailoring new outfits in the Rukon..." He answered, looking apologetic; Alison seemed to really want a spar, but...there was quite a lot of risks in that.

With her blades, it would essentially be more of a battle of whose clothing was destroyed...

That would be bad considering...right now the clothing they currently donned were the only sets they had on them at the moment... Walking into a shop in such a state... Oh dear...