NOT a Date

Raika frowns as she looks over her clothing. Most of it is actually in tatters, with very little in the way of clothing that one would consider to be appropriate for a meal with someone you'd accidentally caused a fairly huge injury to. She's about to give up, in fact, when she spots a single untouched outfit that most might have considered to be only somewhat too exposing, rather than the clothing she normally wore. It was an outfit her mother had held very dear to herself, a corset and skirt combo that might have seemed a little too delicate to worn by someone as rough and tumble as Raika appeared to be. It was one of only a few of the keepsakes of her mother that Raika had left, but just sitting around and gathering dust would do no good.

She sighs as she puts it on, knowing she can't very well wear her Nemean Cloak with it, but she can at least still wear the Felis Bangle that has the Seven Swordsman weapon sealed within it, so she's not completely defenseless while she's out and about with Dante, even without the protection of her cloak or her usual ninja tools. Of course, she always has her claws, but she's already planning on painting them a matching purple color now that she's seen her mother's dress, so she'd hope to not have to use them. Raika feels a bit frustrated with herself; even when she's planning on treating a boy to a meal, she's thinking about possible combat. She realizes she's going to have to stop thinking like that eventually now.

Several hours later, Raika arrives at the hospital to meet Dante, greeting him in her corset and skirts, and even with her hair having clearly been brushed and cleaned up to look more presentable.

"So, where are we going to eat? It better not be somewhere expensive..."

Spoiler:

Dante had been brought some clothes by his mother in which allowed him to get changed properly so he could leave the hospital in not just a gown. While signing paperwork, his arm and hand had a few scars that the doctor couldn’t heal properly, let alone want to heal properly. It was more of a warning than anything and a hard reminder for Dante. Signing his name into a legal debt with the hospital, his mind wandered as his stared at his thinly bandaged arm and hand, seeing as no skin came through the wrapping.


”You need to take care of yourself. If you don’t train properly, you will continue to damaged your arm and you may not ever be able to use it again if you continue to break it.”


His eyes looked sullen before signing off on the last page and dropping the pages that he held with his left hand onto the page he had just signed. “There.” Dante handed it back to the nurse who gladly took it and put it in a folder for record keeping. “Have a nice day!” She giggled as she innocently smiled. Dante made a nervous smile before turning around to see Raika show up in a dress, neatly done hair, making her look… quite normal actually. Dante himself wore a light blue coat, a white shirt, a black turtle neck under, and some navy blue jeans, accompanied by some boots. His eyes stared at her, seeing as though light shimmered around her, her demeanor staying the same but she looked.. Vulnerable to him. “Woah..” He would gulp, slapping himself from staring and shaking his head before nodding. “It won’t be that expensive. And if anything, I have other plans in mind.” He would smile, his ears perked and ready, his tail swaying slowly side to side. A bright blush remained on his face as he held his arm and hand out, offering to be the gentleman of this date.

Raika gives his outfit a quick glance, but she doesn't seem to find it terribly impressive, but also not entirely unattractive, either. At the mention that Dante has other plans, her eyes squint at him, wondering if he's suggesting that he's planning to get something more out of her, but she firmly grabs hold of his offered arm, giving his bicep a squeeze that's one part affectionate and one part warning to him as she lets him lead her out of the hospital.

"Oh? Then you'd better tell me these plans. And if I don't like your plans, you're going to have to deal with the consequences."

Although when Raika turns to him and gives him a smile, instead of what might be considered a show of happiness and affection, or at least good spirits, Raika's smile is rather more like a feral cat lifting its lips to show that it has sharp teeth. Sharp teeth which are made for hunting. Then she stops the smile to look forwards again, although her steps do sway just a little bit; perhaps it was the dress, but she somehow feels more pretty at the moment with Dante on her arm. Since he seemed to have a desire other than dinner, she was curious about what other plans he had, so she looks at him out of the side of her eye at him. Even if she wasn't really a cat, she still had a somewhat curious nature, and maybe a bit of a playful one at that.

"At least the hospital seems to have bathed you, you don't stink as horribly as you normally do."

Or perhaps Raika was simply getting used to his scent and it had stopped stinking for her. She wasn't about to postulate on that one.

Dante glanced her way, his face showing a bit of concern as she made her attempt at a smile which only showed her baring her fangs in an awkward way. ‘Cute..’ He gulped and looked away as she stopped, their steps swaying a bit with the lead of Raika as she held onto his arm. “Right. THATS a secret.” He would chuckle and give her a playful wink, looking forward again and walking to a nearby restaurant. The way there was mainly quiet yet Raika spoke up finally, just to say that he didn’t smell bad. He would nudge her softly and laugh in response. “Hey, is someone getting used to me?” He would let go of her arm as they arrived, his ears flicking every now and then, pulling her chair out and having her sit down before he did.


It was a relatively pricey ramen shop with different types of foods, especially friendlier options for people who didn’t eat meat. Dante sat down, his tail threading through the open hole in the back of the chair, it swaying softly. He placed his elbows on the table and interlocked his fingers with each other, his emerald eyes almost glowing softly. “Have you been here before? I haven’t. I want to try it.” The Dante that say before Raika was more respectful and less hostile, though this was Dante actually trying to become acquainted with Raika, perhaps even more. Her scent lulled him more to her, him fondly getting used to it. His nose would wiggle with each focused sniff he made, some towards her scent while others towards the food around him. “Oh. And I thought about maybe visiting the hot springs. It’s been a while since I’ve been there..” He finally said, revealing his big plans.

Raika frowns a bit when he describes his plans as "a secret", and Raika realizes she doesn't much like the idea of secrets, though she's still not sure what exactly he has in mind. She lets out a soft growl as he suggests she's getting used to him, but she can't really verbally deny it; delusion would be lying to herself about reality, and being delusional is what ultimately led to the deaths of her parents. So she wouldn't lie to herself, she was indeed getting used to him and his scent, and she wasn't sure what she should do about it, or even if she can do anything about it now.

Raika is brought to a ramen shop, and although she was somewhat accustomed to growing up eating raw meat for a long time, especially meat she'd hunted down herself, she had to admit that the food smelled pretty good, although the scent of cooking vegetables on its own was almost sickening for her. Luckily, the salty, searing scent of cooking meat can somewhat drown it out, and the smell doesn't turn her stomach too much for her to think she'll dislike the meal.

"I have never eaten here. I've rarely eaten at any of the restaurants in Kirigakure."

Raika asks for water when the waitress asks for their drink preferences, and then provides them with a menu, which Raika simply glances at and quickly finds herself a seafood bowl. She looks at Dante very directly and almost blanky when he suggests the hot springs, but she's clearly more comfortable with that suggestion than wearing the dress. Especially when her tone sounds more relaxed, having clearly expected far worse for his "big plans".

"Oh, that's all? I expected worse from you."

Raika turns her attention to the waitress, addressing her plainly and asking for the seafood bowl, though she asks for many of the vegetables to be removed, leaving mostly onion and leeks.

Dante crossed his arms and smiled, giving her a big toothy grin. “Right. Well I’m glad I could show you one!” His smile calmed down as the waitress came by and asked what they wanted to drink and eat. “Water and Pork please. Thank you.” He said as his attention went to Raika again. Seeing her blank expression, he looked away, while looking a bit disappointed. “Would you not want to go there? We can do something else if you’d like.” He asked after her criticizing statement. Unfortunately for Dante, due to his exotic features, he was unable to hide his emotions. His face looked fine but his ears pinned back and his tail tucked around him, kinda upset that maybe Raika wasn’t in for it. He thought maybe something small and relaxing would get the water going between them to see how they would mesh. The food arrived shortly after and he gave a small nod to the waitress and prayed before digging into his food. He had a pork belly ramen dish which had a few pieces of pork belly that were salted enough to compliment the richness of the broth. The noodles were soft and bouncy and didn’t require much chew. He loved his meat and so he ate that first, slowly but quick enough to start taking sips of the brother to compliment the saltiness. Dante licked his lips after taking a sip and took a drink of his water, leaving a stain of brother on the corner of his mouth. “Well?”

Raika raises an eyebrow when she notices Dante reacting negatively to her slightly teasing statement, perhaps misreading her subtle cynicism as more direct criticism of the idea of going to the hot springs. She decides she should dispel that notion that the idea of going to the hot springs was being shot down, but she takes a quick sip of water before she answers, waiting for the waitstaff to leave them with their food before she lets him know that she's not opposed to the idea at all.

"No, the hot springs is fine. It'll help you loosen up your muscles after the physical strain of laying down in a hospital bed for a week straight being bored out of your mind."

Even if the somewhat teasing tone isn't very outspoken in her voice, her sarcasm should let him know that she's giving him a rare joke rather than an insult, as one might expect from such a woman. She watches how he eats that pork belly for a bit before she eats her own meal, proving that she can, in fact, eat like a civilized person; Raika is just more often going to choose to eat her food raw and free rather than expensive and cooked. After drinking down her own broth and following up with her glass of water, she notices the stain of his own pork belly broth on the corner of his lips, but she decides not to wipe it off for him. He's an adult, after all. She does, however, motion to the corner of her own mouth and then rubs at her own with her thumb to hopefully get his attention about the "leftovers" as it were. Whether he notices or not, she pulls her own money pouch from inside one of the skirts of her dress, laying down enough ryo to cover their meal, but not much more.

"Remember, though, I only promised to pay for the meal, so you're paying for the visit to the hot springs."

Dante’s ears perked up and his tail began to wag a bit from the reassurance that the Hot springs was fine. He gave a smile and finished his food, savoring the broth and the tenderness of the meat. It was a really good dish and unlike Raika, he loved his meat but cooked. When watching Raika make some sort of notation towards his mouth, his ears flicked in an upward motion for a second, making his eyes look down to his hand, moving it around his mouth until Raika would give the sign that he was at the right spot. He’s wiped it off quickly and chuckled, whilst exhaling from a full stomach.


Seeing Raika pull her coin purse out, he did a quick nod and pitched in for a tip for the waitress, stacking their dirty plates and finishing his water before getting up and standing to Raika’s side with an open arm. “Hot springs?” His eyes looked into hers for a moment while judging his arm a bit to encourage her to take his arm. If she were to grab his arm, he’d quickly begin walking to the hot springs; almost excited. A bright blush went across his face with a sudden realization that they would both be in the water together and thought maybe since they were only acquaintances, he would go in with a towel. He would cover his mouth a bit before walking a bit quicker. If she didn’t grab his arm, he would walk with her until the realization hit and speed up, getting to the hot springs first instead of with him. Upon arrival, he would look up at the sign and glance to Raika, wherever she may have been at this point and continue in where he would pay their fee and ask for a private bathhouse, giving a little bit of an extra coin. The two would go their separate ways where Dante would get to the bathhouse first, covered in a towel, his bare chest out, his scars happily being flaunted. He would wait until Raika came by, his tail lifted up and in the air to avoid any uncomfortable feelings between the tail and towel. Maybe they could get a bit more conversation in now that they’d both be a little relaxed.

Raika stands with him when he gets up and offers her his arm, making her raise an eyebrow when he jostles her lightly with his arm, and she takes hold of it with the arm closest to him. When he asks if they're going to the hot springs with such obvious excitement in his voice, she rolls her eyes, then looks up to him and nonchalantly shrugs.

"Sure, why not? Hot springs it is."

She follows his lead as he brings her closer to the hot springs, although his obvious eagerness to get straight there gives her pause for a bit, wondering what his intentions might be to get her there, especially as he nearly drags her to try and get her to move faster. It takes a bit of restraint on her part, but she manages to resist the temptation to pull him back and make him walk at a normal pace to the hot springs. She's handed a towel of her own and then allowed into her own dressing room, where she learns for the first time how to fasten a towel around her chest, using her breasts to keep the towel up and a tight knot to keep the towel from slipping off before she reaches the water pool.

Raika waltzes straight into the hot springs to see him already with just his towel on, and she notes with a small amount of interest that he's more toned and muscular than she remembered on the training day, despite having been in the hospital. Perhaps the diet there had left him with less fat and therefore caused his body to tone up. Regardless, she slips into the hot spring pool, sighing as she relaxes and lets her muscles relax while she slips the Felis Bangle off her wrist and sets it down a couple of feet from the edge of the hotspring, keeping a very close eye on it to ensure that it won't fall in through her peripheral vision. Luckily, the room was a private one, so she wouldn't have to worry about someone kicking it around.

Seeing Raika come out with just a towel on, his heart began racing and he quickly looked away. ‘Chill dude…’ He would think to himself. ‘This was YOUR idea. Deal with it!’ He would think to himself before getting in the water and sitting down, the towel slightly raising before he forcefully put it down due to the water that built up under it first. He would dunk his head for a moment to get his ears wet and his tail so that way it would remain wet but somewhat in the water. Without dunking it, it would float and look pretty silly. He inhaled and exhaled, letting his body kinda sink, his eyes closing from the warmth of the water that wrapped around him. Soothing.. like a mothers embrace.


His eyes would open and he’d glance to Raika. “So, Raika. How did you learn those techniques so quickly?” He asked, quite interested as they were both Taijutsu specialists. He wanted to get stronger yet he still lacked behind so much. “I’ve been wanting to learn some new techniques but unfortunately it seems as though my team has fallen ill.. they haven’t woke up from some time.” He would say a bit saddened. “Michel was pretty hectic though but I think maybe we could’ve gotten along.” He muttered a bit.

Raika watches Dante's odd behavior when she sits in the hot springs herself, letting her long raven black hair spread on the surface of the hot and turbulent water as she allows her body to relax. It was certainly an odd sensation, and not one she had experienced often. Most water around Kirigakure was rather more chilly, and what warm water there was is typically swampy or stagnant instead of actually being hot. She even closes her eyes and leans her head back, exposing her supple, soft neck as Dante asks her how she learned those techniques so quickly.

"I'm just a quick learner when it comes to Taijutsu. It helped that Raphael Uzumaki was helping me to learn the Adamantine Chain techniques that form the basis of my new Taijutsu style... Although you only caught a glimpse of what it can really do."

Her head snaps up as she realized how much she just revealed to someone who wasn't even in either clan, staring at Dante closely and likely making him feel a little more uncomfortable.

"And if you ever see any more of what it can do, it stays between us. Not that you could learn it anyway; the chains are exclusively an ability that only the Uzumaki keep, locked up in their clan compound."

At the mention of his old friends, she recalls their faces, though their names escape her. They'd been at the extremely busy spar where she'd first met Dante, but now they'd fallen ill with that disease. It was a shame, they had seemed quite powerful at the time, but now they were brought low. Oh well.

"I'm sure if they were awake right now, they'd want you to focus on training to become stronger anyway. You're well on your way."

Dante’s ears pinned back from the threat that Raika made, making a gulp. ‘How is she so scary yet…’ he’d gulp again before looked directly at her covered chest, a big blush going across his cheeks. ‘So hot..!’ He’d quickly look away, moving his body a bit away from Raika, clearing his throat, before his head shook a quick minute, any water droplets coming off of him and spraying in all directions. “Yeah I’m sure..” He chuckled, now responding to her last comment. He took a moment to stare off into the distance before his mind coming back to the first thing she said. “Hey wait a minute. You said Raphael right? He’s my sensei. I’m supposed to meeting with him sometime soon.” He glanced her way, his ears perked a bit. It was funny how they shared the same teacher in one way or another. “A-Anyway. Did you want to.. Know anything about me?” He asked politely. He seemed to have asked her a bit of too many questions and it looked like she was getting irritated. He decided to change the subject and give her a moment to ask him some questions.

Raika notices his fear response to her statement, and she wonders a bit if she'd gone too far with her implied threat to secure his silence, but it was too late to say sorry now. Not that Raika usually believed in apologies anyways. She also barely notices his eyes trailing lower to her breasts, which is a bit confusing. There are a few scars there, but he'd seen plenty of scars. What made her chest so interesting to him? This is when she's broken out of her curiosity by Dante mentioning that Raphael is also his sensei, and she does find that a bit odd, since Raphael had never mentioned him. But he likely wasn't even aware that the two knew each other, so it made sense.

When he asks her if she wants to know anything about him, she's about to blow off the question, since she rarely asks about others very much, but she realizes she does actually have something she's a bit curious about, especially since he was the only person like this that she had ever seen; the only other ones with somewhat similar features were ancient Ryuutei that had attempted to live in the Golden Plains of their lion summons and had slowly been transformed into lions themselves, but it took decades for them to change that much, and they all ended up being completely transformed into lions instead of stopping partway, the way Dante looked.

"Yeah, what's with the ears and tail? Nobody else I know has that kind of stuff."

Dante’s legs moved inward, towards Raika as she asked the question of his ears and tail. “Hmm? Oh these?” He’d twitch his ears and gentle grab his tail, flaying it softly around. “They’re from my ancestors I guess. I don’t know much about my lineage because I’m adopted. From what I’ve heard though, some from my blood line have these traits where as others have normal features like you.” He would explain, a bit sullen about the fact that he had no idea what the Osaki had. Every day he learned something new out of chance or intended. Dante’s eyes would go back to Raika, emerald and gold meeting once again. “Here..” He’d adjust himself to turn his back towards her and get closer, leaning his head to the side while attempting to look at her. “If you’re curious, you can touch them..” If raika were to take the offer up and touch his ears, he’d wince from the initial touch. The nerves on his ears being stimulated sent shivers down his spine, making him start panting. “Just… not. Too much. Kay?” He’d chuckle to Raika, though not blaming her if she would ignore his request. He’d just have to stay in control for the time being. His tail was the same, possibly even feeling softer than his ears. Occasional grunts were made of She were to continue messing with his ears.

Raika is a bit surprised that the ears and tail were from his clan, though perhaps she shouldn't be quite so surprised. After all, her own claws were actually some of the traits of her own clan, and though she'd seen plenty of women with long nails, those weren't really the same as her own powerful claws. The woman shrugs as Dante suggests that she could touch his ears if she was curious, and with his body moving closer to hers, Raika can feel the air in the springs getting hotter, though apparently the temperature itself hasn't actually risen any further. She does choose to give his ears a little rub, and she's surprised by how soft they are, as well as the way they sensitively flick about at first when she touches them, before she lightly holds one each between her thumb and index finger, softly rubbing back and forth to feel how soft they are.

She somewhat ignores his warning not to touch them too much; it's not like he'd really be able to do much if she continued, and he doesn't seem to pull away when she does so. His panting is a bit odd, as it's not like her playing with his ears was all that physically demanding for either of them. She raises an eyebrow when he even starts grunting, and she stops suddenly, surprised by the noise and somewhat confused by her own unwillingness to hurt him.

"Okay, that's enough petting them then."

Raika is even surprised by the slight disappointment she feels after having pulled her hands away. This wasn't even her first time experiencing a soft sensation. Although things like soft blankets were often seen as a weakness in the Ryuutei clan's upbringing, they certainly grew up among the younger lion cub summons in most cases, and so they experienced the softness of a young cub's fur quite a lot. This was somehow different from that, but she couldn't put her finger on exactly why, and that slightly disturbed her.

Dante’s eyebrows turn upward, closing his eyes slowly, while his grunts slowly turned into soft moans, accompanied by purring from his vulpine ways. His head began nuzzling into the motion, Dante quite liking the feeling his body turning towards Raika slowly, his head getting closer to hers. Raika’s hands were gentle, soft, and careful of his ears, unlike from their spar from a week ago. It was entirely new to him but he couldn’t help but feel more drawn to this side of her. When she pulled her hands back, stating that that would be enough petting from them, his eyes would open, seeing bright and contrasted colors despite Kiri being a dull place. His vision came back from the petting, seeing as how close he was to her face. He would quickly blink a few times before pulling away slowly. “S-sorry.. it felt nice.” Dante gave a small chuckle before staring at her again.


“Amazing..” he would speak under his breath, complimenting Raika’s drastic change in personality, leading him to slowly get closer to her once again. Dante brought his hand out of the water, gently placing his hand against Raika’s cheek, breath upon breath. Inches away from one drastically changing action. He would graze his nose against hers, as if invitation or request to get closer to her. Though knowing Dante, he would take in account of multiple outcomes. Raika leaves, punches him, completely tries to drown him, or she accepts. The rare 1% that could happen. If Raika were to accept, he’d place his lips softly on hers, kissing her passionately and gently, having his free arm wrap around her waist, fighting to pull her closer but still kept his hand there. It had been about sunset now, the sky reflecting on the water, with Dante’s and Raika’s kiss being in that reflection as well.

Raika is a bit surprised when he starts moving closer to her while she's petting his ears, though she only pulls back a little when she notices how his eyes are closed and he's seemingly not entirely aware of his surroundings. She's relieved a little when he opens his eyes and finally seems to realize that he's gotten quite close to her, and then moves back. Raika then waves off his apology for getting closer and explaining that it had felt nice; she didn't usually accept apologies anyway, and she rarely ever gave one, even when she'd managed to cause gashes on Raphael's arms during a spar. Her ears perk up again as he says something under his breath, and she turns her attention back to him just in time to watch him come closer to her and put a hand on her cheek.

She's still in a bit of shock by the touch, an alien sensation of comfort and affection for her, with her golden eyes locked on his bright green eyes. Despite her initial surprise, she doesn't pull away when their noses meet, a new feeling coming over her as their breath mixes in the heated air of the hotsprings, and although she can feel her heart hammering hard enough that she can hear her blood pulsing in her ears, she knows it's not from fear and it's not from the excitement of battle. It's some new sensation, and it's not quite like those others. With their lips meeting, Raika slowly closes her eyes, even as her hands move up to grip his shoulders when one of his arms wraps around her waist to pull her in closer to him, pressing their bodies together.

After a few moments, she feels something below the heated water of the hot springs, and she somewhat gently, but still quite firmly, presses back on his shoulders, moving him back from the kiss as she seems to suddenly realize that the sun is dipping down from the horizon.

"It's getting late, and I was really only supposed to buy you dinner. It's probably about time we left for the night."

As she slips out of the hotsprings, she's only barely aware of how much cooler it is outside of the water, with her face still feeling flushed for some reason despite no longer being heated by the steam. There were a lot of new things for her to process now.

Dante kissing her passionately, his arms sliding to embrace her with a firm and gentle hold, he begins blushing, suddenly feeling a change in which he hopes Raika hadn’t felt it. With a soft moan into the kiss, Raika manages to pull back, pushing Dante back at the same time, him being left to catch his own breath. Both were flustered and red, with Dante’s chest moving up and down. A lingering feeling of wanting more went down his throat and manifested in his chest and stomach, feeling as if he hasn’t had his fill. His eyes gaze at Raika who is looking red and telling him something but he can’t seem to focus. Every part of his body, he is fighting to restrain from taking hold of her again. They were in public and he needed to be decent. “R-right.”


Seeing Raika get out of the water, with all of it falling off of her, he bit his hand, looking away, breathing heavily, a few takes here and there. ‘Shit.. I fucked up..’ He clears his throat and decides to get out as well, clear discomfort as he shakes his leg, the wet towel compressing onto his legs, feeling like a weight. “Let me at least walk you home. It’s the least i can do..” Dante cleared his throat one more time, feeling flustered still as he made his way to the changing room first. A bit of uncomfortable noises came from the men’s area but other than that, he came out perfectly dressed, waiting for Raika to come out.

Raika is a bit unsure of her feelings as she walks into her own changing room, although she knows she isn't going to say no to Dante's offer to walk her home. She feels confused, but not uncomfortable, and her mind is still reeling from the power of the kiss that is still running through her body. Her face feels hot even now while she's pulling her clothes back on, her hands shaking a little until she actually takes a long moment and a deep breath to calm herself and get her mind and body centered in the here and now instead of trailing back to the moment of the kiss. Regardless, she can still feel butterflies in her stomach as she comes back out of the women's changing room to meet Dante.

"Very well, you can still walk me home."

Despite her words, her tone doesn't sound at all like she's simply doing him a favor, but actually looking forward to their walk home, even if it's in awkward silence, and her hand lightly grips his arm if he offers it to her. Despite herself, her steps now have a bit more of a hip sway to them, like she's trying to show herself off a little more, but she's not sure who she's trying to impress with her appearance or the movements of her hips and legs. She has to restrict herself from looking directly at Dante's face, because every time she does, she gets a flash of memory of his lips and his body pressing on hers, and she feels her face heat up. All of this combines to become a spiral of increasing memory sensations, and so she simply looks around them while they walk.

Dante gave a small nod and gave her his arm, her grip changing drastically as well. It was light, as if she was being gentle instead of her regular strong self, her hips swaying more to a woman’s walk instead of her regular stiffness. Dante had key noted all of these things, his ears raised yet back in a relaxed manor, happy that Raika had relaxed herself. The walk there was filled in silence with an occasional comment here and there, especially with a thanks.




He would say politely, his walking swaying with her hips. The sun has finally set and the street lights had come on, dull and yellow but lit up the streets enough to see what was going on. They walked slow, taking in the scenery, Dante taking as much time as he could with her, the kiss never leaving his head. Her lips were soft, more gentle than he had thought them out to be. She hadn’t rejected him which was a good sign but he wanted to take it slow as much as he could. However, it became hard to control as they got closer to Raika’s own home, where Dante would see her inside and to make sure she would settle properly. He would look around, taking in her home, complimenting the things she had as his posture was a bit leaned back, his left hand in a pocket, and his tail swaying side to side.


Dante’s eyes travelled to Raika, his heart beating fast and loud. His feet would turn to her, his legs moving on their own, slowly but to Raika. Each step would force Raika to back up, soon into a wall, where his movement wouldn’t stop. ‘Stop Dante. Stop… Moving..’ he would think to himself. This wasn’t good, he could hear his heart beat fast, his eyes feeling heavy. His breathing would become heavy, almost like a dog panting. Stopping to the point where their bodies pressed against another, Dante put his arm above Raika, his forearm leaning on the wall, with a low growl in his throat, coming forward. It wasn’t a growl of hate or aggression. Dante knew what was happening but he couldn’t stop himself, his body completely getting closer, his lips grazing hers as he kept it at the distance. His eyes would meet hers, looking completely dull. ‘Shit…’

Raika herself is trying to put the kiss out of her mind the entire walk home, although her hand on Dante's bicep certainly means that the thought is never far from the forefront of her mind, replaying in her mind as the moments of that kiss feel like they stretched to minutes as she replays it over and over mentally. Once they make it home, Raika is certain that she'll have enough space and enough time to be able to fully process what just happened and maybe come to terms with her emotions and try to regain control of them; although her home was modest, it was really just a temporary domicile, and so it was exceedingly spartan in its appearance, with blank walls and coldly wooden flooring. Most of the extravagance was held in the Ryuutei clan compound, which steel needed the funds to be brought back to glory.

With her thoughts turning towards the Ryuutei clan and her plans to bring it back to its glory days, she's taken by surprise by Dante once again, having been distracted by her own thoughts this time and so she is caught entirely off guard when Dante approaches her, backing her into a pristine wall and then into a kiss. All six feet of this dangerous woman was almost like putty in Dante's hands, allowing him to put his body up against hers and even press his lips to her, even if he's panting like a dog and growling with an apparent need that she can feel radiating off of him along with the heat of his body. But she presses a hand to his chest, with her elbow braced against the wall, stopping him from advancing any further without actually pushing him away from her.

"Not yet, Dante. I'm... My clan and I aren't ready for this step of a relationship yet. Right now, the Ryuutei clan would hunt us both down if we had any offspring of our own. Let me change the Ryuutei clan before we do this... Dante."

She honestly hadn't meant to be so forthright with her agreement to the relationship, but it was already out there now. Dante could likely infer that she did, in fact, want to have some offspring with him, which meant... quite a lot, for someone like Raika. But hopefully Dante could tell that she was earnest with that admission as well as the firmness of stopping him for now.

With Dante this close to her, he inches more, before initiating another kiss yet was pushed away softly, more of a barrier made. This made Dante’s eyes widen, his pupils changing sizes as they went from their regular slits to a normal humans pupil, causing Dante to catch his breath. He had been pushed back, knocking him out of his senses for right now. He could feel her melt into him, something he hadn’t felt from her yet and in only the few times they’ve seen each other, so much unspoken words were enough for this one date. Feelings were there but maybe too much considering both of their lineage.


Dante’s eyes widen with Raika’s view on it, not necessarily denying the relationship aspect but neither wanting to continue long in the future. She was right; the ryuutei would hunt her down and probably kill Dante himself for being the only Osaki around to have such keen features. The rest looked normal or had just ears to accompany their traits. A set back clan that didn’t have any leader, making Dante an underling of the Ryuutei. Inferior even. Dante would take a few steps back, clearing his throat and looking to the side. ‘Offspring…’ His face became even more flushed, almost glowing with red as if he were on fire.


“Right.” Getting himself composed a bit, the only few inches of a height difference, Dante would use whatever leverage he had to make her flustered even more by softly grabbing her by the waist and using his right hand to move some hair behind her ear and whispering softly, the tip of his fingers trailing down her neck as he pulled back from her ear and giving her a gentle yet passionately kiss goodnight, biting her lip softly and finally pulling away, his steps faltering as he went backwards. He’d give a half salute with only his index and middle finger and lick his lips, savoring the taste of hers while walking backwards to the door and turning to open it, closing the door behind him. He would smile on his way back, a low rumble in his throat, hoping his words affected her the way he intended.




[exiting thread]

Raika is a bit surprised when Dante seems to snap out of it instead of continuing the kiss despite her warnings, as she'd feared he would, despite her objections. Despite fearing the possibility, something in her also wanted him to ignore her objections and keep kissing her, but she had to suppress that half of her mind. She's simultaneously relieved as he pulls back a bit, seeming to understand the situation fully when she's not able to secure the safety of their relationship. She certainly didn't want to make another clone of herself, someone to go through the exact same experience that she'd been born into, destined to become who she was, whom most might consider a monster of some kind.

And so she's surprised once more when he wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her into him again while he brushes her raven-black hair from her face, her eyes wide before he leans in to kiss her again, the passion in the liplock causing her heart to beat frantically. Despite her own eagerness in the kiss, she slams her palm into his chest a bit until the kiss is broken, and he leaves her a bit out of sorts as he gives her a salute and shuts the door behind him, reiterating the nickname that she'd let him get away with before. Flustered and controlled by emotion as she was in that moment, she furrows her eyebrows before opening the door again to call out after him loudly.

"AND DON'T CALL ME KITTEN, TWINKLETOES!"

She then slams the door again, loud enough that it's likely the neighbors can hear it and the windows rattle in their panes. Despite her final words to him, she can still feel her heart beating hard and butterflies dancing in her stomach when she remembers that final kiss good night as she gets ready for bed.

OOC: EXIT THREAD