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Post by Jackstraw on Oct 8, 2009 3:18:24 GMT -5
The chair creaked slightly as Aya leaned forward, staring around the Kazekage's office curiously; it was dull, to say the least. Not a single interesting book or photo or anything. She rested her chin on her hand and her elbow on the desk, returning to semi-reading the small book on the desk before her.
If anything, he'd be here soon... The young man they'd befuddled at the front gate should have found the Kazekage by now and informed him of his guests. They hadn't injured anyone on their way up here, so there should be no reason for him to take so long; though it would be quite a shame if he decided to burst in fists flying, so to speak. She'd prefer not to fight him, but she couldn't say she wasn't prepared for the possibility...
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Post by Danna on Oct 10, 2009 0:18:40 GMT -5
It was just shortly thereafter that Kokoro entered the room, cooly and calmly, seemingly unshaken by the woman's sudden appearance. If anything, it seemed he had indeed been expecting her to show up before long. His golden eyes were quietly unmoving from her location, soft, but stern in the same right.
Pulling out the seat on the other side of his desk, typically for guests, he sat, leaning back slightly and pressing his hands together in his lap patiently.
"Good afternoon, Aya-tan." He said quietly.
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Post by Jackstraw on Oct 10, 2009 0:50:32 GMT -5
"Isn't it though?" Aya looked up, a faded smile on her lips as she looked him over; oh dear, he didn't look too pleased to see her here, did he? How unkind~ She shook her head slightly, sad brown eyes taking him in slowly as she spoke. "It's been awhile since I've been here. I forgot how uncomfortably hot it is...."
She closed the book at her fingertips deftly as she stood, still watching him with a half-hearted smile.
"It seems quite a number's been done around the village. We used to work together to aid each other in such matters...."
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Post by Danna on Oct 10, 2009 1:19:14 GMT -5
"Once, perhaps. But I wonder if we once did more harm than help to each other in such matters as well..." His voice was soft and calm, but obviously not particularly happy at this 'reunion'. There was an underlying sadness in his demeanor that was impossible to overlook.
"These lands can be harsh, but...they can be welcoming as well, to those who live in them."
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Post by Jackstraw on Oct 10, 2009 1:50:19 GMT -5
"Hmm..." She hummed softly, circling the desk slowly; the clicking of her heels echoed in the tense quiet of the room until she stopped, leaning back on the desk. She gazed at him another long moment before closing her eyes with a troubled sigh. "I suppose I should just cut to the chase. You don't seem particularly thrilled to see me, and it's making things.... rather difficult for me."
Her head dropped some and she fidgeted some hair back behind her ear as she looked up toward him from the corner of her eye. This was a troubling start.
"I wanted to give you some time to settle your mind after our last.... meeting. If you can call it that...." She shrugged lightly, directing her eyes to the side; she couldn't stand to have him look at her like that. "Either way..... I was advised to let you do as you wish at that time; you deserved your revenge. Now I'm here to..... well, to check up on you." She glanced back his way, lips twitching as she carefully chose her words. "I do worry about you. Part of me says I shouldn't, but.... well, you are rather hurtful, Kokoro-san."
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Post by Danna on Oct 10, 2009 2:05:40 GMT -5
Kokoro watched her quietly, carefully, still feeling very cautious about her. "I had not wanted to hurt you to begin with...but obviously our last meeting raised some questions about where you really stand in all this...Aya-tan."
His eyes narrowed a bit, sadly, pondering over what she had said, and what her brother had told him. She may have seemed innocent enough to begin with, but slowly that facade was fading. Even now, he could sense something different about her...
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Post by Jackstraw on Oct 10, 2009 2:35:19 GMT -5
She cocked her head at him, the slightest flash of a more malicious intent darting through her eyes before she closed them and shook her head. Thinking such things...
"Where I stand...? Kokoro-san, I don't see how that isn't clear." She looked back at him, eyes as soft and quiet as they had been the day the two met. "I have yet to raise a hand against you, despite everything you've done. I've stood back, I've let you do as you wish to fill whatever void those people had created in you, I've indulged your questions and suspicions." Her eyes narrowed a fraction, more in a scolding way than anything malicious or intentful. "You have little grounds to imply anything against me when you've brought this all upon yourself."
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Post by Danna on Oct 19, 2009 20:05:34 GMT -5
"Your brother raised a few too many questions for my liking. I'd love nothing more than to believe you, Aya-tan...but your brother was no liar. He was much, much too proud of himself for that."
Still sitting calmly in his seat, he watched her as she moved about the room, tracking her movements quietly and carefully. His sand colored eyes kept locked to hers, maintaining their own softness, in spite of the obvious stress of their current situation.
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Post by Jackstraw on Oct 19, 2009 21:37:30 GMT -5
"My brother was insane, Kokoro-san. He played doctor on his own brain on countless occasions and was swayed by delusions of his own grandeur; he took joy in manipulating people and stealing from them. I'm sure you realized that after a couple encounters with him. I'm sure you can understand why I had to get him out of our village. He would of destroyed it..." She trailed off, looking off around the room for a long moment, thinking. "....I loved my brother, Kokoro-san. But we both understand that death is a big part of the life we've chosen. It's inevitable for us, especially those of tremendous power and influence."
She fidgeted with her hair, pulling it over her shoulder as she looked back at him. He looked like some sort of stone man, just sitting there and staring at her like that; hard to believe someone with a demeanor like that was capable of enough emotion to slaughter an entire room of people.
"I can't make you believe me, but I hope I can make you understand that what happened to your brother couldn't have been stopped. If it hadn't happened then, it would have been another week, another month. It would have been Iwa you set up instead of Kiri. That's how the life we've chosen works." She straightened up some, fiddling with her hair anxiously. "But you can't keep living like this Kokoro-san. You've done what you needed to do; no one's going to punish you for that; but if you continue in this paranoid witch hunt, you're only perpetrating this circle of violence and no one can guarantee what measures will be taken against you."
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Post by Danna on Oct 19, 2009 23:12:15 GMT -5
"I know more about the mindset of your brother than you could imagine." He replied simply, his eyes growing sadder for a moment. He flexed his fingers, stretching them a bit, then pressing the tips against each other, idly moving his fingers back and forth.
"And if that fate of betrayal is unavoidable, then doesn't it make more sense to work towards ending it? I refuse to believe that our lives will lead to naught but a knife in the back from our allies."
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Post by Jackstraw on Oct 20, 2009 0:33:23 GMT -5
"I really don't think that you have any grounds on which to preach about ending betrayal. Kokoro-san." Her voice had a bit of bite in it now. She folded her arms under her breasts, staring at him more intently now; she seemed expectant, anger thinly veiled underneath her patient stare. After a long moment, she sighed heavily, pushing herself up and striding over to the man. "You're making this so difficult for me on purpose, aren't you? You're so cruel. I'm starting to wonder who it was I fell in love with...?"
She stopped a few feet in front of him, staring for a moment before smiling weakly.
"This is all so melodramatic." She managed a small, shallow laugh and shook her head. " I haven't done anything to you or your village. I worked into your little plan, played the part you plotted out for me and allowed you to kill and manipulate. I've never treated you with anything less than the utmost respect and affection. Tell me, why is it that you treat me like some sort of pariah?"
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Post by Danna on Oct 21, 2009 0:51:17 GMT -5
"I had no intentions of bringing harm to any who weren't involved, and I've done my best to maintain that. But..." He shook his head a bit, eyes pausing on her before closing in a lingering sigh of sadness. Kokoro lifted himself from his seat carefully, taking a moment to close the distance between them, moving smoothly and carefully, non-threateningly.
"I have wanted to believe you...and I would have, some time ago. There's nothing more that I would like than that..." He smiled weakly, lifting a hand and brushing it against her cheek, lingering there as he leaned closer to her, as though he were going to kiss her. "But something about you changed, recently...something in your eyes that wasn't there before." He whispered, the swirl of his golden eyes building. They were close enough now that their noses were touching lightly, tickling each other.
"You forget, Aya-tan." He started, so softly that it seemed the words were drifting straight from him to her. "A puppet master knows an act one they see one."
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Post by Jackstraw on Oct 21, 2009 1:29:33 GMT -5
She stared back at him, eye steeled against his, not the slightest bit of fluster or embarrassment in her demeanor as there would have been months ago. Her lips parted, breathing softly against his for a moment before forming a slow, sweet smile.
"....please don't look at me like that, Kokoro-san." She finally murmured, sounding almost amused. "Trying to coerce me with such hurtful words and such cruel eyes; must you rely on tricks like that? You should know by now that I'll give you nothing less than the truth should you just ask for it." She reached up, taking his hand gently in her own and pulling it down and away from her face as she leaned in smoothly, lips brushing his ear with a soft sigh. "....you should also know that I never fall for the same trick twice.... Kokoro-san."
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Post by Danna on Oct 21, 2009 22:59:39 GMT -5
Kokoro remained as calm as ever, lips forming into a sad sort of smile. He closed his eyes, shaking his head a bit as he spoke.
"Your eyes have given me enough of an answer, Aya-tan. You shouldn't underestimate the subtleties of my...tricks."
His eyes opened slightly, shifting towards her, glowing eerily in the shadows cast from their close proximity.
"What do you intend to do?"
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Post by Jackstraw on Oct 21, 2009 23:14:40 GMT -5
"Protect my village. Is that not our duty as kages?" Her voice was soft, plain and quiet as it'd always been, leaving no indication of anything in it. She stared at him for a moment, face blank but eyes vivid, the honey-brown hues bright and intensely fixated on his eyes, burning with their own ferocity. "What is it that you're trying to pin to me, Kokoro-san? You've spent this whole meeting insinuating things against me with no solid argument aside from a gut feeling."
She shifted a bit, a tiny bit closer; her hands brushed his chest, fingers light and affectionate, her eyes still watching him, a weak smile on her lips.
"You have no interest in my side of things, only 'what I intend'. How boring...."
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