Hustlin' & bustlin' (Shou/Open) [Tokyo]

Shou bursted out laughing and wiping her tears away when she heard Izumi's concerns and telling her to be careful, only to answer her afterwards.

"Don't worry 'bout it! If it happens, then it happens."

Looking at Izumi right in the eyes, she nonchalantly smiled afterwards. Authority? Power? They weren't the things that can scare her off from being a free bird. If she gets caught up in all that, then she'll just write it down to having a bad luck.

She is a little surprised when she was being told off for being too touchy though. Well, can't blame her though since there are people with their own personal boundaries and Shou might have overstepped it.

Shou winked and gave a thumbs up when she was thanked by Izumi and with a smug look on her face, she answered:

"Told you I'm good at running away."

Ah~ About time she get to order her own food. Without hesitation, she ordered the spiciest ramen that the shop could offer. With that settled, she turned her attention back to the woman in front of her and asked a question that she has been meaning to ask.

"Oh right, what's your name? My name's Fu Shou, ya' can just call me Shou."

Shou remembered that Izumi didn't like her to be too touchy, so she had her hand back on her own lap before reaching out for a handshake. It did make Shou wonder though; being concerned of other people, not like being touched too much, calm and collected.. hmm..

It reminded her of something. She shouldn't put her words around it.

Ah!

"You're a lot like a cat, aren't you?"

Does this girl fear anything?

Izumi was taken aback by the casual attitude Shou had. Was it bravery or foolishness? Now, she wondered whether she ever needed to step in the middle of all this in the first place. A quick glance around and Izumi saw no hostiles, or anyone that reminded her of those thugs Shou had separated from them. Good.

"Shou, hm?" Izumi said, trying to rapidly think of a name. "My name is Rin Takeda."

Izumi was a damn good liar. She came up with things on the spot and fooled people easily. Coming up with a name was a piece of cake, and her tone let nothing be known. The only thing she'd have to worry about is if she ever saw Shou again and didn't remember which alias she used. It wasn't too big of a deal now.

"A-A cat?" Izumi blinked, surprised. "And why would you say that?"

"Rin! That's a wonderful name! Pleased to meet 'cha!", as she gave a thumbs up and a big smile afterwards. It is a pretty dang good name after all.

Giggling away when she saw Izumi's reaction when she said that she acted like a cat, well it is true at least in Shou's mind. Her interactions with Izumi so far really felt like she was talking to a cat person and had to be a little more careful than usual to get it warm up to her.

"I mean, you don't like me to be touchy with you, get a little curious with what I do and worry about me even if you don't show it on your face. Kind but cold at the same time~"

Elaborating on what she had meant by her being a lot like a cat, Shou leaned in closer with a smirk on her face and continued on.

"Ain't that a lot like a cat, Rin-chan? Hehehe."

This young girl was so much more observant than Izumi was used to. However, she did not catch onto her lying about her name. Good. Either that, or she was faking it and new from the beginning. Either way, Izumi was very uncomfortable right now, even if her face didn't show it. She did not enjoy having so much of her read by anyone, especially some kid she was trying to help out.

And that was the problem! Why was she trying to help? She could have, and should have, just let this alone, but she stuck her neck out. It was foolish and dangerous. Izumi fell silent, thinking to herself as Shou tried calling her a cat person. Izumi just sighed and shook her head. Before she could speak, their food was set down in front of them, so she took a moment to eat a few bites.

"Eat your food," Izumi told her. "Once we're done, I'm leaving."

Well, Shou isn't the smartest of the bunch but even she wasn't dumb enough to not know how to read the room that her comments about calling her a cat brought some level of discomfort. If she had gone out and about offending every single person on her way, she wouldn't be meeting Izumi right now in one piece.

Hearing what Izumi told her, all Shou did was chuckle in response and didn't mutter a word, and slurped down the food that came.

Khhhhhhhh---

Forgotten that she ordered a spicy ramen, the spiciness came in strong. Just after a few slurps, she was already tearing up, red-faced and lightly banging against the table from how spicy it was. Literally, hot damn!

Still, Shou managed to let off a few laughs and a smile off of the spiciness searing on the entirety of her mouth, trying to calm it down before she finally started talking to Izumi again.

"Right! You familiar with this city?"

Trying to move the topic to remove the tension from earlier, she couldn't help herself to still stop her sentence, took a few tissues nearby and sneezed right into it before continuing with a smile on her face.

"Sorry if I am asking too much even though you're going to leave. You mind showing me around? You can just tell me if you don't wanna."

The moment that question was asked, Izumi knew what was coming. Her interactions with this girl so far had not been lucrative. Shou showed little usefulness for someone like Izumi, so spending too much more time with her was not a desirable outcome. Mid-chewing, Izumi stared at Shou, waiting for the inevitable. And there it was! There was no way she was going to escort this girl around the city. Izumi took her time finishing her bite and cleared her throat.

"Um, yeah. No, that is not something I'm interested in doing," Izumi said, wiping her hands on a napkin. "Firstly, I don't know this city that well. I don't know any place very well. Two, I pulled you aside because I thought you were a young girl that would need some help, but I was wrong. You're fine. I did my good deed for the day." Izumi pulled out money, an amount that definitely went over their food bill. "I have bought you a meal. Now, I will take my leave. I wish you well."

Izumi decided to get up and leave now. She had no interest in being convinced to stick around and help a strange girl that would bring her nothing of use. Izumi stood up from her chair and turned away, giving one final wave.

Eh~ Seems like she's hit a few sore spots that she didn't know with this person. Still, if she declined with showing her around, hey, she ain't the type of person who would force someone to come along if they didn't want to. After all, freedom is her motto.

"Hahahaha! I don't mind if you don't wanna! Thanks for the kind gesture though. I wish you all the best for what you are doing~"

Playfully waving back towards Izumi after she helped pay with the food bills and everything. She wasn't planning to say much more to cause anymore discomfort, only smiling back and continued waving until she watch Izumi exit the shop.

Looking back to the table, Shou was pretty surprised at the amount that Izumi paid for before she left.

"Fuu~~ Free money! Now I don't have to starve for awhile!"

Taking the remaining balance left from the bill, she would take the money up high on her hands and celebrated that she has at least some sort of money left in her wallet. Traveling is seriously a very expensive thing even though she has already skimped out on the hotel costs.

Putting the remaining money into her pocket, it was her turn to leave the place as well. Waving at the owner of the ramen shop with a big smile on her face to say her goodbyes, she would also take her exit out of the place.

How exciting~ When will she meet this person again?