Masami could no longer remember how many days it had passed ever since he left Joya, where his hometown is. Being in South Fiore, a place that contrasts the cultures from where he came from, did its absolute best in creating a wider comfort zone. Few hours before the clock hits 12 PM, Masami had already sat in a café, waiting for the person he was going to meet up with. He had already taken a sip off of the green tea he ordered as he waited, "Yikes, it tastes so much different from the tea back in Joya." he muttered after taking another sip, sticking his tongue out after. Not that he was disgusted, 'dissatisfied' was the correct word. Living in a place were tea is finely produced his whole life, then drinking foreign beverages from other places – it would be natural that his tongue would not get used to a sudden change of flavor like this.

He looked around, left and right, up and down even, but still no sign of Natsumi Duranndal, the acquaintance he was going to meet up with. It has only been a few minutes, anyway, and Masami's fine thinking alone if there is no one to interact to. Once more, he scratched his left cheek, where the new guild tattoo is stamped upon. Penumbral Guard, its red mark stamped upon Masami's cheek. Once more, he took a sip from the tea cup, not realizing that it was already finished. "Ah," he muttered, "still not used to this."

Natsumi walked down the streets, getting odd looks from those around her, as her height made her look abit intimidating to civilians. Soon she was halfway towards the cafe as she thought to herself.

'I do hope I made a good impression on Masami, he seems fun to be around, abit girly but I quite like that, reminds me how I used to be. she thought as soon she tripped over her own feet, as she got up, rubbing her face. her nose as it bleeds alittle, sniffing as her forehead was red from the fall. she sighs as she says to herself.

"aww man well cant let this stop me, just keep moving forward no matter what stands in your way." she proclaims as she soon arrived at the cafe, sitting at the table where masami was, sitting across from him as she greets him, her forehead read and nose bleeding

"sorry it took me so long, I kinda took a little trip on the way here."

She laughs finding the humor in her fall as she looked down at him, feeling abit uncomfortable as since her massive growth spurt she had found most chairs to be abit small and uncomfortable.

The performer raised a brow and his expression was an obvious shock, although he seemed to be calmer in his mind, it would be odd if he didn't react a slight bit. "What the heck?" he lightly slammed his hands on top of the table, softly tapping Natsumi Duranndal's nose. "It's already getting quite sore already. Don't worry, it doesn't look so bad." The mark of her fall wasn't so obvious, except the bloody marks, which was the main reason why he quickly noticed something had happened. "I'll get some tissues, wait here." Masami pulled himself up and left his seat, going straight for the counter.

They were looking at Masami earlier, but now their eyes stuck to Natsumi. Masami didn't notice at first, but she definitely grew a bit. Therefore, he sighed, knowing that his growing is riding a turtle on the way. "Tissues, please." he was given the enough amount, then he went back to his seat, providing tissues for the girl who tripped on the way. He didn't say anything else, given that it was already obvious that she had to wipe her nose with the tissues he got for her. He had her arms crossed, then he made a chuckle.

"Natsumi Duranndal, Penumbral Guard's Tactician, a C-Rank mage... tripped on the way here." he slapped a palm on his face then tilted a little backward, laughing at the funny thought of someone so noble being so clumsy. Then he leaned forward, pointing right at his left cheek, where the guild mark was. "Have you noticed anything unusual?" The guild tattoo. He meant the guild tattoo. He was finally in the same guild as Natsumi Duranndal, Penumbral Guard. Though the application was quite... odd, that doesn't make him different from the other members.

She looked at masami as she smiled, "Dont worry I get hurt alot lately, mainly hitting my head on something like then top of the door frame, tripping and falling hard. I am not quite used to being this tall before that violent growth spurt and became more healthy I was rather short myself.

she sais as she remembered she would have been smaller then most back then, even back in her hometown most didnt know of her existence after her family passed on, as such she was borderline malnurition most of the time. So when she ate more and became more healthy she hit her growthspurt as well as any development that had yet to happen due to the malnurishment.

she looks at his guild tattoo when shown, she smiles "congratulation on joining the guild, I welcome you then and well as one of the more high ranking members I guess I should try to be a better role model.....

She starts laughing "who am I kidding, being a role model is good but I rather be myself and who would want to just play at being a role model, if you arent one then you arent. Oh by the way my tattoo is on my tongue. she shows him her tongue, her guild mark placed on it as she orders some booze which soon arrives.

Masami didn't even think that it was possible having the tattoo placed in a location where fluidity is constantly active. Upon seeing Natsumi's guild tattoo, his eyes widened in surprise, even creating a smirk out of his awkwardness. 'I expected that it'd be around the arm.' he stopped himself from continuing this thought, shaking it off into another topic to talk about. Natsumi's height, that was quite odd as well. Joyan women aren't usually tall, but all of their soldiers were taller than the general height of men. Even Masami couldn't find himself tall, being only five-foot-two, a height considered normal at his age – he internally sighed at himself because of this.

"Haha, right." it suddenly felt like he was being forced to become a noble... what happened to Tomoe's words about 'not mattering whether you choose to become a hero or not'?! It seemed as if Natsumi's words often contradict the guild masters', not to mention that she also had a title, or some sort of status. Does she get along with Tomoe Tanaka, anyway? Having contradicting views – if Masami were to encounter such person, they would probably often debate and create subtle arguments. Was Masami misinterpreting Natsumi's words, or was he forcing himself to believe that there's a force trying to force himself into becoming a certain someone? It's like the theaters all over again! All these thoughts were happening in a second before booze arrived, in which Masami immediately reacted away from it.

Booze, an alcoholic beverage that causes drunkenness, and drunkenness causes all the odd things in the world to happen. Bad memories! Shoo! Masami couldn't even handle the smell of it, but what arrived next was a sakura blossom cheesecake. It appeared disappointingly small, but Masami didn't mind taking the tiny fork and cutting through the soft cake, then taking a bite. "Delicious!" then he looked at Natsumi, pushing the plate towards her. "This should make you feel better, at least." He couldn't help but look at Natsumi's abdomen, which was in the same view point as the cheesecake's plate. She really did grow, how unsettling. All sudden changes aren't so good changes, Masami could see why the girl was having a hard time maintaining balance.

"You should try yoga," he suggested, taking another small bite from the cheesecake, "I believe it would help you gaining some balance and stability. It works for me!" He knew that it was odd for him to suggest that a bigger, taller lady like Natsumi would go for yoga. As mentioned earlier, female soldiers in Joya are tall, most of them, at least. Perhaps it would be fitting if Natsumi took something that would match her body composition, something heavily related to strength and endurance, even if she appeared as feminine as Masami did.

Natsumi looked at masami as she said

"Yes the guild tattoo can be placed anywhere if you chose it, I had my old guild tattoo on my tongue so I figured why not in the same place. As a bonus when I show my guild tattoo I get to stick my tongue out at people. she says showing her childish side, seeing the food arrived she looked at it, not used to eating cheesecake, she grabs the utensils as she begins to eat it, tasting the center part of the cake and not the crust as she looked down and said "wow this tastes so good, I never had cheesecake before, this is quite good. My usual diet consists of Protein, meat, more protein and all..

She looked at masami "yoga huh....I never tried it before but I will take it into consideration, thank you Masami but let me ask, would you be interested in doing another quest with me? I had a fun time the last quest, your dancing is awesome, I would love to see more if you allow it, your magic is so unique, unlike I have never seen and I studied most fire magic styles when I was little so it interest me alot."

"Ah, yeah, I almost forgot." Masami responded after finishing the cheesecake, not even taking his time to feel the flavor. He could eat the same cake next time, anyway. 'Yikes, protein,' Masami's diet consisted of mostly fruits and vegetables, food consisting lots of healthy skin benefits. He has maintained this type of eating ever since he was first trained to becoming a performer; he doesn't remember whether it started in the age of five or six, but definitely no more or less than that. It wouldn't hurt to eat something sweet once in a while, too.

A few days ago, he took a quest with Natsumi Duranndal, before he joined her guild. He had to leave early because he had to do some preparations afterwards, and he didn't expect that the event would take long. He took a sip from a glass of water, thinking of an answer. Being invited to another quest, she seemed determined, too. "Sure! Why not?" he uttered this after placing the glass back down, opening his left palm out. "Would be a start as a new guild member." his open palmed swiftly transitioned into a thumbs up, even expressing a very wide smile. Masami honestly didn't mind, but taking the girl's request into consideration, it would be a pain for him to recall if he responded in such a dull way. "Any ideas?"

she seemed happy to hear his opinions on teaming up once more as she slowly ate the cheesecake. looking at him as she says.
"That is so great, I am happy to hear that new guildmate, we could become and official team even if that would be ok.
She said as she looks down at the cheesecake taking bite after bit, eating it happily as she curls her white hair around abit thinking as she finishes off the cheese cake

'I shoulld probably buy some new clothes tho that can wait but more importantly I wonder what quest we will undertake together, I hope I will be more useful then last time just using my flames for effect, his dancing was much more entertaining .

she looks down noticing him again, blushing softly as she finished her meal and drank her booze as she stood up. looking around
"Should we get going, Maybe we can go on a questing spree that would be good right" she says as she streatches quite abit bending back and loosening up most of her limbs and bodyparts as to prepare her body for excercise unsure if it will be needed or not

Masami quietly expresses his disgust when Natsumi finishes a glass of booze, 'The smell—!' Still wasn't used to how liquor smells and tastes like, such a vague delinquent to comfort. He looked at the lady with a worried face, wouldn't she be drunk by now...? It's worrisome looking after a drunk person, especially if the one acting like the mother dislikes being humiliated in public. What if Natsumi couldn't control what comes out of her mouth? The thought could simply put Masami to immediate death.

Regardless, he found it weird finally becoming "one of them". After all, he's finally committed to protecting the guild members, which included the person in front of him. Will he be able to successfully protect her if Natsumi ever comes in trouble? Masami nodded, "I want to become stronger as soon as possible!" he punched the sky in determination. Now that he's in a guild, the quests would probably be harder, considering that they'd have a team doing quests, expecting that it should be easier for them. "Are you going back to the guild? I'll be taking some items before questing." he stood up as well, pointing in the direction of where the guild is located.

"Ack, actually..." Masami had only remembered just now... he had to pick things up in the theater! He should be able to do this at the moment, or else he won't be able to pick the parcel up until tomorrow. When he uttered this, he placed both palms upon the table and stood up, fingers placed towards the lower half of his face. "Ah, I'm sorry. I was quite reckless in planning, I will make up to you very soon." he should've known to check the schedule for today before acting up. Thus, even slightly humiliating himself in front of the lady, Masami took some cash out of the overcoat's inner pockets and placed them on top of the table. He didn't like giving money to ladies. If any, it was majorly better to treat them with care rather than offer such valuables.

He wouldn't leave a lady looking like that, of course. Gently, he placed two fingers around Natsumi's chin and faintly raised it up, checking her forehead and cheeks. "Ah, it's a bit swollen. Nothing so bad, though, just some ice packs would be enough." Finally, he fixed his overcoat, properly layering them around the shoulders then brushing the lower cloths. The lady would be fine on her own afterwards, and Masami had nothing to worry about. When he created some distance, he waved her goodbye. "Let's do some quests sometime soon! I'll be in the new city." it was light-hearted, his tone of voice. He ran away afterwards – Masami had only ever rushed until now, just like how it was in the theater. After he'd pick the parcel up, it was time for him to pack his bags and leave the city.

Natsumi watched as Masami left as she thought to herself for a bit "Well I guess i should head out to, i been hoping to do some more training before i head to the guildhall, Not like I am in such a rush to get there. I do hope I wont get all nervous again like how i was before, I could barely speak my own mind before, not to mention even talk for normal basic conversation. I was so weak will back then but no more.

She headed off into her own direction, pondering and remember how she used to be, the moments she had wished she can wipe away, the moments she felt despair, the moments she was happy and those time she was sad, wanting to cry out loud. No more willl she feel like that, She had planned to now burn all of those away use them to feul her inner fire and finally be herself.
She was truly on her way to being a better person and not to mention a better mage.

pointing a finger to the sky she shot up a small flame, watching it before it fizzled out, grinning as she was off.

Exit