SoleAccord

In the Shadow of the Cherry Trees | A Naruto RP

There was not a hint of surprise to hear that Naruto had done most of the talking on Sakura’s squad. Even before being assigned to it, that guy was as loud and rambunctious as they come. Keeping her sanity must have been challenging. But, then again, Naruto always knew how to bring out something in people that they never knew they had. Sakura would know that better than anyone. After all, without his shouting during her match against Ino, the Yamanaka would have taken the victory decisively rather than let it end up a tie.

Then there was Sasuke. Cool-headed, quiet, the obvious loner-type that didn’t seem to desire much of anything other than a good fight. The exact opposite of himself. He knew that picturing himself as Sasuke would pose as a challenge, but he had to try. After all, Sasuke was the one who Ino had set her sights on for the longest time. Sakura, too. To compete with a guy like that, he had to determine the best qualities of the Uchiha and mimic what he could. Maybe Ino would better acknowledge him as a guy worth looking at fondly.

Sakura felt differently. Unable to see him as Sasuke – and he couldn’t blame her, not at all – she touched on her inexperience by referencing romance novels, a loosely accurate source of what women could want from men. He found himself nodding with her assessment of starting things as natural as they could. He knew he could never really be Sasuke Uchiha. That meant that he had to find what worked best for him and him alone, and used that to set himself apart from that guy.

“Makes sense,” he agreed. “Ino seldom takes no for an answer. She’ll be especially critical on me, too.” Ino’s hardness was from a place of good. She wanted the best for Sakura in all things even if they were rivals. Before the conversation could go on, a waitress arrived to take their orders. Hardly glancing at the menu at all since they were seated, he agreed to have what Sakura ordered and handed his menu off to the waitress. As his hand settled back onto the table, Sakura’s fingers moved in to lace with his. He glanced down, but said nothing of it. ‘She’s good at this.’ He would note, finding that Sakura’s natural potential as a girlfriend was far superior to his own as a boyfriend.

His ‘girlfriend’ went on to talk about her idea of what having a partner meant. Naturally he agreed with her, nodding once again at her assessment. The simple things were sometimes enough. “That sounds perfect.”

Then she returned his earlier request. She couldn’t pretend he was Sasuke, but he could try and pretend this was Ino he was talking to. Rather than discredit her by imagining the beautiful blond was staring across at him, he kept Sakura’s image just the same, but altered his attitude. “If you were Ino? Okay…” he said, pausing to consider the options at his disposal. “I’m not much good for thrills, but I find that I’ve become a good listener. Maybe that’s because I don’t always have a lot to say. I guess I would start by asking her about her work in the hospital and show some real interest in the work she’s putting in to become stronger.”

He saw her focus shift to their hands and found an opening. He parted them only to bring his palm beneath her own while his thumb stroked her from wrist to knuckle repeatedly. “But just asking wouldn’t be enough,” Shikamaru started again, giving Sakura’s hand a firm squeeze. “The physicality of affection matters, too. Unless I have other plans that day, I’d offer to walk her there and ask her if she’d want to go out for lunch with me. Or I’d surprise her with a small lunch I made around her lunchtime. And when it was close to her time to leave, I’d come again and walk her home. I’d hold her hand, even find it in me to smile a little more, just so she knows that it’s because I’m with her.”

It sounded so easy when it was put like that. Ino herself rarely made things easy for him. There would be parts of their relationship that nothing could prepare him for. He had to be ready for anything. “We’ll start small. Since we’re both new to an actual relationship, Ino wouldn’t think we’re experts at everything. You can expect her to make suggestions for you. That’s just how she is.” He released her hand and allowed his fingers to skid along hers before leaning back in his seat, smiling with unease. “You didn’t have to do any of this for me. What exactly made you change your mind?”

Kindling Spirits | A Legend of Korra RP

Hearing Bolin’s understanding of the situation brought little comfort, but it was a step up from feeling nothing but apprehension when they first made their way here. He continued by expressing that he didn’t wish to hold any of this against her. Relieved, she could finally manage to offer him a smile of thanks, but he wasn’t stopping just by understanding her position. The earth bender continued, and the further he went the tighter her chest became. Soon her smile ceased to exist, replaced only by a firm stare that grew harder by the second. Finally, it touched on the real problem he had. Not just her feelings on Mako, but the relationship she didn’t care for before.

Korra gripped her knees tightly as Bolin finished saying what he had to. It left her agitated, and a little sad on top of it. Hurting Asami’s feelings was never her intention when she kissed Mako, but she knew how it must look to someone else on the sidelines of what they did that night. Then there was the matter of Bolin feeling like he was played. On top of it all, he had the nerve to ask her if there was a shred of regret when she kissed Mako. The tension in her body couldn’t have been any more apparent to him, but for the sake of not drawing any more attention to them she kept her composure as much as she could, took a shaky breath, and tried to deal with his rant all at once.

“It’s not really any of your business, but… no, I don’t regret making my move. If you want to jump down my throat about kissing him, then fine, but I wasn’t even thinking about him while you and I were out. He came to me. He wanted to see me. What does that tell you?” Her voice remained low to not draw attention to themselves, but it was hard to conceal how irate she was becoming after all the blame he gave her. A hard frown and a piercing stare were given to him in response. “I’ll tell you: Mako likes me, and I bet he regrets picking Asami over me. Why else would he be jealous that you and I spent time together? He just feels guilty, and I get it, he knew he had Asami to worry about. But if he really cared about her then he wouldn’t have come to me at all. But he did. And I met him halfway and made my move. You can’t sit there and be disappointed that I took some action. It worked for Pema!”

The conversation she had with Tenzin’s wife prior to all of this had taught her the value of being bold. Asami couldn’t have been the right girl for Mako. In her heart, she knew that there was something between them, something Mako was trying to deny. He wanted excitement, not comfort or riches to tide him over. As much as she was grateful to Asami for everything she had done for them, it was difficult to imagine Asami making anyone truly happy by just being wealthy and, admittedly, beautiful. Mako clearly wasn’t satisfied with that alone.

“And you think I was playing with you about going out? I went with you because I wanted to have a great time, and we were! But the difference between you and me, and Mako and I, is that I can return his feelings for me. With you… I just…” Taking another shaky breath, Korra’s gaze left him to take interest on her knees. “You’re just a good friend. At least I thought you were. I’m not going to be one of your groupies to hang onto your arm, and I’m not going to sit here and let you make me feel terrible for how I feel about Mako. If Asami was right for him, then he wouldn’t have come for me instead. That’s that. End of story.”

Sparing him one last glance from the corner of her eyes, she closed them and stood up. “Just forget it, Bolin. Goodnight.” She made for the aisle opposite of the earth bender and began to ascend the staircase, hoping to leave this all behind her.

Sapphire Roses

RISE ROSES, ARISE! THE LAST OF OUR DORMANT ROLEPLAYS AWAKENS ONCE MORE TO FINISH WHAT WE STARTED!

Ahem.

Well it was running WAY longer than I expected so I had to cut the tension short. I'll come up with a full identity of the possessed student, as well as the culprit behind the possessions, by the next reply. I had him hasten Botan's sadness towards a lack of desire to persist living, so Botan heading for the indoor pool is still planned. And you can even have a couple boys try talking to her as she passes them before they end up passing the classroom she left with Kurama and the 'plague master' inside.

I'm rusty, but I'm looking forward to writing out their exchange.

Sapphire Roses

What went unseen through the moist eyes of Shiori Minamino did not go unseen through Kurama’s own. An instantaneous appearance of the Botan he knew, the Botan that both his mother and himself cared deeply for, had shown itself before once again vanishing as quickly as it appeared. The pain that those words caused had struck Botan beneath all of the darkness she was submerged in, causing her to break free just long enough to express regret. She wasn’t entirely lost despite the invisible affliction she carried. There was still hope.

But now that she was compromised, what was the next move?

A frown took the place of the concern that previously marked his features, but he did nothing to stop Botan from walking off and heading to bed. Shiori did not protest it either. Instead she looked at him, eyes still damp from the emotional stress of Botan’s ongoing parental split. To have a heart of good and want to help but deep down know that you could offer very little in return was truly suffering. That was a state of mind that he shared with Shiori. Rather than let the pain of her affliction halt him, Kurama instead rose to his feet and moved beside his mother to offer her a hug she was eager to accept.

“It’s a difficult time for her. She’ll talk about it when she’s ready, I’m sure of it…” Kurama spoke optimistically, countering the somber tone that Botan left for the pair. He caressed her back to offer further comfort, yet there was no whimpering or moaning to be heard. Unexpectedly, she pulled away and looked upon her son with unwavering eyes.

“Shuichi,” Shiori began, “It isn’t what she said that hurts. It’s knowing that I can’t possibly know how she feels, and how to talk to her about it.”

“You can’t blame yourself for that. Neither of us could have known how strongly her situation would impact her.”

“She seemed fine just recently.”

“I thought the same. If I paid more attention, maybe this could have…” Kurama’s voice trailed. He thought back to the ambush after they had left Genkai’s home. The low-class demons that attacked, and the ominous presence he felt all around them… It was so close and intense, but the more he began to think about it, the harder it was to imagine that he missed anything at all. He wasn’t out of practice. His senses should still be strong enough to detect the energy of a demon making all of this occur. So then, why did he not feel out the change in Botan’s presence fully? Even after she revealed her affliction he could sense no change. Only her snapping served as a hint. Just what sort of demon was—

“Shuichi?”

Snapping back to reality, Kurama set his thoughts and feelings aside for now. Focus returned to Shiori. “Sorry, I was just thinking about how I could have been better prepared for a situation like this.”

“If I can’t be blamed, neither can you,” Shiori countered firmly, releasing her son and brushing away idle droplets beneath her eyes. “We can’t change how tonight went, or even her situation. What we can do, is not let her be alone.”

“I don’t intend to. I’ll be there for her, even if she hates me for it.” Kurama, now free to move once more, reached for Botan’s plate and his own. A loss of appetite was to be expected; he couldn’t eat with so much on his mind and wouldn’t try to. Not to mention his mother would need some time to herself as well. “I’ll clean up and get ready for bed. If you’re finished, I’ll take care of everything.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure, mother. Get some rest. I’ll check in on Botan before bed, so don’t worry.”

Ease wasn’t quite the word Kurama would call it, but Shiori appeared to find a little peace in his words and agreed to retire for the evening. Wishing her son goodnight, she stood up and headed to her room. Before she had even left his sight, the thoughts of this new revelation were pouring back to the forefront of his mind.

‘The ambush, as well as the presence I felt… it could only have been then. But why only Botan?’ Kurama thought, preserving Botan’s plate and finding containers for the untouched portions that remained just as mother left them. ‘Do they know who she really is? It would certainly make more sense than just her popularity. And after revealing my strength like that, they still managed to affect her so quickly, and in such a short amount of time. They’re no ordinary opponent.’

Dwelling on his failures would not aid him in finding success from this point forward. Once the last of the containers were filled, the counters wiped down, and the evidence of dinner erased from the dining table, Kurama ascended the stairs minutes after Shiori and approached Botan’s room with soft steps. Slowly, he grasped the knob and held his breath before he cracked it open and peered inside, finding the back of the reaper turned to him while her side rose and fell peacefully. He listened to her breathing for several moments to make certain that she was not pretending before shutting her door. Even with the reassurance that she was asleep, he paused in place and listened for another few moments more.

His paranoia was not rewarded. Botan’s breathing did not shift nor did any new sounds escape her room. Satisfied with this, he retired to his room for the night and proceeded to plan for tomorrow.

And tomorrow came quickly, with sleep not coming easy for him.

He rose an hour earlier than necessary, washing up and dressing for school later in the day. Helping mother prepare breakfast was considered, but he feared for Botan’s state of mind rather than her daily percentage of vitamins being consumed. So, he chose to wait, and was eventually rewarded with the faraway sound of her dressing and eventual departure from her room. Joining her after counting an entire minute in his head, he descended the stairs after her, bag in hand, and managed to catch her gaze on him.

Unlike yesterday, no speck of the Botan he knew was there. Regardless he smiled. “Good morning,” he said. “Did you sleep well?”

As expected, Botan did not reward his courtesy and chose to act as though there was not a rift between them now. She knew that he knew of her affliction, and that was enough for now. The scent of oatmeal and fruit bowls nearby were a welcome sight, but not welcome enough for Botan to even poke at them. He drew closer to the meal, noting how undisturbed both pairs looked. ‘She won’t eat? I’m not sure whether it’s because she lost her appetite or this is an attempt to spite mother for yesterday… then again, it doesn’t really matter.’

Kurama, too, walked past the meals to not leave Botan waiting for him, hoping his mother wouldn’t worry with both untouched. Leaving with her, the trek to school was slower, but because of her refusal to eat she had given them enough leeway to walk slower. He did not complain, and he did not attempt small talk. What he did do – the only thing he could do for her until he figured out a plan – was stay beside her no matter how long she chose to drag her feet. Eventually they had made it with minutes to spare.

The popularity of Botan did not waver regardless of how down she appeared to be. Staying close to her helped keep boys at bay, but the girls weren’t going to be deterred by the new girl. When they approached, Kurama quickly warned them that Botan was feeling quite sick, and that he, too, was beginning to feel ill. A poor lie, but they took it. After all, Shuichi Minamino was an exemplary student, a model representative of Meioh Private Academy. He had no reason to lie to them.

Focusing in class was not only difficult for Botan, but for him too. Whenever he could, his eyes traced to her before returning to the lecture at hand. This back and forth with monitoring her and getting work done had continued through Trigonometry and Chemistry, until finally it was time for lunch. He gathered his things and waited for Botan to gather her own, which took her until only another student and themselves were left in the room.

Finding her second wind, Botan’s pace in gathering her things and making for the door became a respectable pace rather than that of a tortoise. Figuring it was a result of skipping breakfast he thought nothing of it until an unnatural chill brushed against him from behind. It wasn’t lethal energy, nor was it one with threatening intentions. It was just there. A warning, unmistakably from a demon.

“Shuichi Minamino,” came the voice of the unremarkable student tucked in the corner of the room. Kurama stared hard outside the door, hand grasping tightly at the knob. “Or should I just refer to you as Kurama? Or maybe just Yoko?”

Kurama held his tongue and began closing the door, stopping a few inches short of shutting it entirely. His mind raced even as the rest of his body remained still. There were many questions without guarantee of an answer. “…The plague master, I presume?”

“Plague master?” The culprit chuckled. “I like that. Although I expected such a cute nickname from your friend, Koenma’s little helper.”

Kurama turned, coming face-to-face with him at last…

In the Shadow of the Cherry Trees | A Naruto RP

RISE THREAD, RISE!



Dude I'm so fucking sleepy right now lmao I'm gonna lay down for a bit. I didn't check it and just posted it because you would have come back so disappointed if I rest first. I'm a merciful God.

In the Shadow of the Cherry Trees | A Naruto RP

It was hard enough to play this role in front of Ino, who was the entire reason this situation was created in the first place. Now with Sakura’s confirmation, he had to imagine looking someone like Choji in the eye and telling him about this. Being thrust into romance was something he was prepared to do. Being outgoing about his new status as a boyfriend, on the other hand, was one of the last hurdles he needed to get over.

Ino was by far the most outgoing of the two girls, yet even with that knowledge in mind it didn’t make what he had to do with Sakura any easier. She was playing pretend for his sake, with little for her to gain in return, and with that in mind he realized that this was just as new and discomforting for her as it was him. Excluding the last attack on the village, they didn’t speak a word to each other before. Now they had to convince everyone – her best friend included – that they were dating and madly affectionate for one another.

So, when Sakura winked at him, he winked back. No ‘drag’ to be muttered. No longing to be a cloud as he glanced enviously up at the sky. He had to become far bolder to leave a good impression with Ino, to show that he could express himself just as she could. That meant doing things just like that no matter how many cringes he had to suppress beneath his skin as he strained to keep his smile together.

When asked if he had met Sakura’s parents, he only shook his head in response. He had seen them a couple times at the Academy back in the day, but not since, and he wasn’t eager to check out Sakura’s baby pictures, even if she was a cute kid once. He similarly had little to say about shopping. Ino boldly claimed to know his taste and was willing to bestow that knowledge to Sakura the first chance she had. At first, he wanted to question just what Ino thought, but then he saw it; an opportunity to see what Ino thought of him taste-wise. Having Sakura go along with her to try on clothes she thought might appeal to him could work in their favor.

Sakura had steered the conversation to food and spoke of barbecue as their place of choice. He bit his tongue and felt the scolding of Ino’s words before they had even left her mouth. The Yamanaka was right, of course; barbecue was a casual place to eat, and wasn’t fine enough for taking someone you really liked out to eat. Sakura crashed them into a hurdle, but he didn’t blame her for not thinking about it. She wasn’t his girlfriend – wasn’t anyone’s girlfriend – and with her likely holding out for Sasuke, she probably wouldn’t have been anyone’s girl unless Naruto stepped up to the plate. This was just as new to her as it was to him.

“Yeah, I got it,” he replied. “Too used to going with Choji.”

His ‘girlfriend’ recovered by asking for a suggestion while he recovered from the poor choice mentioned prior. The place she mentioned was vaguely familiar; dishes taken from the Hidden Sand, Cloud, Mist, and Stone made the place a popular choice for those wanting to try new things but lacked the time and energy to travel and do it themselves. But most of the high-end dishes were expensive, with only the Sand’s trade deal with the Leaf making their dishes the most affordable of the bunch. If he had the choice, only special occasions would prompt him to spend the kind of money they asked for.

“I’ll keep it in mind,” Shikamaru managed to say before Sakura had tugged his hand and got them moving. He fought the urge to glance back at Ino who he could sense still watching them. Sakura leaned in closely to him only to tell him that he owed her a meal. “Fair enough,” he whispered back. “And barbecue? Seriously? I hope she doesn’t think I’m that unimaginative. Taking a girl out isn’t like taking Choji out.” He smiled despite Sakura’s choice of location earlier and began to consider dining options. Impromptu dating made him hungry.

“That place she’s talking about is expensive, but only if you order the meals from other nations. Trade is nearly impossible except with the Sand because everyone is too busy thinking the other is trying to stab them in the back,” he said. “That said, I’ve got the money for it. I won’t say anything no matter what you order. You stuck your neck out for me, and I appreciate it. And besides, it’ll look good if I take her advice, won’t it?”

A look of contentedness given to her, Shikamaru had begun leading her to the restaurant in question. Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t packed. The drapes were a quality crimson and portraits of faraway landmarks and landscapes were sorted along the open spaces on the walls. Booths along the edges of the interior, along with finer, larger tables near the center had given the place flexibility. The air was thick with powerful scents ranging from grilled fish, to noodles, to sweetly-stewed meat. Beginning to salivate, they were thankfully served mere moments after entering and were seated in an empty corner of the room beside one of the windows leading to the street. The waitress left them with menus and promised to return shortly.

“So, you’re my girlfriend. This is a date,” Shikamaru started with a slight squirm in his seat. “I’d like some pointers. I can make conversation when I want to, but my charm isn’t exactly up to Sasuke’s level.” When Ino spoke she often had much to say. Sakura, he suspected, was very much different. She wasn’t going to be anything like Ino, but she was the closest thing to her right now. Any bit of information could help. “Just pretend for a second that I'm Sasuke, your ideal guy. What would you want me to be doing right now? Be as specific as you can. Anything helps at this stage.”

Sakura must have thought about dates before, whereas he had never thought he’d be sitting here going on a fake one. Daydreaming didn’t consist of special someone’s until just recently. But everyone knew about her affection for Sasuke – she practically wore it on her sleeve and would tell anyone who would ask.

How did people get through this?

Kindling Spirits | A Legend of Korra RP

ARISE, LEGEND OF KORRA ROLEPLAY. ARISE!!!!

Kindling Spirits | A Legend of Korra RP

The unease of the situation grew not only because of how Bolin parted ways with her, but because the thought of Mako with Asami pained her. How he looked at her after they kissed should have said it all, yet she still had hope that deep down he felt the same attraction for her as she did him. Finding out tonight wasn’t going to happen. They still needed to check out the competition, and Bolin had given her enough on her plate for one evening.

With the uproar of eager fans beginning to funnel into the stadium, Korra nodded at Bolin’s suggestion, though her smile was weaker and wrought with uncertainty. He didn’t speak about last night. This should have been good – maybe he was even over it by now. They could go the entire evening without mentioning it and pretend that nothing happened. One big misunderstanding. No harm done. They were still going to be friends, and they could still hang out when it suited them. It was a comforting thought.

Unfortunately, that didn’t seem realistic.

Greeting some fans who managed to recognize them both had spared her from the worries that hung over her head, but it wasn’t for very long. Every time she managed to get a quick glance at him he appeared the same, lacking only in jokes and casual conversation that were a staple of his. And that, to her, was the most worrisome thing about this situation. Bolin wasn’t his usual self. There wasn’t a wisecrack to be heard, or a broad smile to be seen. Instead they just came to do what they planned to do. It felt professional of them, but also not who they were at their core.

When they managed to find their seats, the distraction of navigating the stadium to get there had given her one less thing to pay attention to. It was just the two of them, more abnormal than she had ever thought possible. From here it seemed like everyone else around them was behaving genuinely. How she wished that she could have joined them. Unlike those that surrounded her, she sat perfectly still and uncomfortably tense. Her hopes that the game would alleviate her worry had failed, too, and she tried desperately to focus with no success.

Bolin tried again to try and bring some familiarity to the situation, as silent was one thing they weren’t used to being. Korra smiled weakly. “Yeah, they’re really going at it.” In truth, she didn’t know what happened in the last five minutes. A strong shudder ran down her spine as he continued. “I got home okay,” she said, voice dry and just barely audible over the cheers of the crowd with the excitable narration of Shiro Shinobi. “I… took my time, just thinking about things. About…”

Her voice left her, replaced by an apologetic glance in his direction. Something had to be done. If Bolin could be as hurt as he was and still manage to try, then it was up to her to try and meet him halfway. It was the least she could do.

“I messed up last night, and I’m really sorry I didn’t clear things up at the time,” she said breathlessly, shuddering again. “Something... Mako showed up, we talked and after that I was just… I can’t really explain it. I think that even if I could, I wouldn’t want to. That’s me trying to be honest, because the truth is… I didn’t quite see your affection for what it was before.” Her gaze broke from his face, finding the caps of her knees and rooting themselves there. It was cathartic to speak her mind, but not by much. “Or maybe I didn’t want to believe it, even when you told me exactly how you felt before we went out. I was a jerk; I… wanted to feel better, and you were there… and that’s just not fair to you. It wasn’t right. But I know how I feel, and I didn’t feel for you like I did…did…”

Mako.

She couldn’t bring herself to say it yet, and yet Bolin had heard more than enough to put the pieces together. Silly as he was, he was far from stupid. How do you take hearing something like that and not become angry? All she could do now was brace for the worst.

Star Wars

@SoleAccord expect Mace Lite's first post by Thursday.

@Afro Samurai

@Afro Samurai Ayyy, okay, okay, maybe a little collab here and there, too. Let me see where you're at first xP

Star Wars

@The Spectre Do you have any ongoing plans besides making for Chandrila as of now? I'm open to more collabs, and maybe you can make your case to some of the resources under my control. Hit me back :D

@Afro Samurai I was going to create a Jedi Knight NPC in the future to give you someone to bounce off of, but it'll take some time. Are you going to remain waiting for time to pass, or do you have a plan to post soon?