Chance Encounter

https://www.narutoroleplaygame.com/t47466-conflict-of-interest


You could barely hear yourself think over the sound of pounding rainfall. Ryota adjusted his umbrella to account for the wind, but not before receiving a blast of water to the face. The young man grimaced. While he did appreciate weather such as today's, he normally enjoyed it within four walls and under a roof. However, something drove him to get out of his house today. He wasn't sure why, but he felt restless, and suddenly compelled to go for a stroll, despite typhoon-like conditions; so he continued aimlessly wandering, lacking both a destination, and a purpose. Out of the corner of his peripheral vision, Ryota caught a glimpse of something vibrant, standing out from the grey colored day. Quickly turning his head, he was greeted by a young woman sitting on the side of a river.

The girl wore a short sundress with sandals, and a straw hat; she had light brown hair, a little past shoulder length, and piercing blue eyes. As Ryota looked at her eyes, he noticed a little scar beneath the left one, noting that it was cute. There was something about this woman. That was something that Ryota felt immediately, and, without thinking another thought, he began to walk towards her. Step by step, he approached ever closer, and his blind confidence had begun to waver. Socialization was not something the young man specialized in, especially small talk with a stranger. However, his unreasonable attraction towards her overpowered these shades of doubt. Without another moment to reconsider, he stood before her, as she swiveled her head and made eye contact with him.

"Quite the deluge, isn't it?"

WC: 273

Ryota's cheeks turned flush with embarrassment. "What a stupid line," he thought to himself, "deluge? What was I thinking?". Stupid. Every millisecond that he waited for her response felt like an eon, as even the rain seemed to be in a state of suspended animation. Cutting through the frozen air, the woman giggled.

"A deluge? Yeah, I guess so," she responded, looking at him with a slight smirk. Ryota's brain didn't seem to be functioning at a proper capacity, and not a single word came out of his mouth. Suddenly, he remembered why she caught his eye in the first place;

"Why are you sitting out here in this weather without an umbrella?" Ryota asked. Even ignoring the lack of an umbrella, she definitely wasn't dressed for the occasion, and she didn't seem to be doing anything in particular except sitting beside the river.

"Not even gonna ask for my name? Well, I'm not too sure. I guess you could say that I'm appreciating the ambience." The lady said this, then gave a dry smile. It was a smile that seemed to have a cocktail of emotions composing it. Ryota paused, soaking in her words.

"Sorry, I'd love to know your name. I'm Ryota. And I can understand where you're coming from with that, but don't you think you could accomplish that while staying a bit dryer?" The woman giggled lightly, putting her hand up to her cheek, and her eyes seemed to shine brighter than previously.

"I guess you're not wrong about that, Ryota. My name is Tanaka Aiko."

WC: 260
TWC: 533

Unbelievably, Ryota ended up stumbling into a date with Aiko. Well, it wouldn't have happened were she not to have asked him out on a date, but either way, Ryota had plans for once. An annual festival was being held in the city square tomorrow night, and he was invited. Jumbled thoughts rushed through Ryota's head: "Should I wear a yukata? I've never worn a yukata, where would I find one? What am I gonna talk to her about? How much money should I bring? I hope she won't expect anything expensive..." and so on. These thoughts were cut short by a familiar face calling out to Ryota.

"Yo, Ryota! Just the man I wanted to see," said a Chunin with a forgettable name, "I've got a mission tomorrow that I absolutely need you on." This man was the one who generally assigned Ryota his missions, and he always seemed like he tried too hard to be relatable, although his age was ambiguous. "You know about the festival tomorrow, right? Of course you do. The guy we had assigned on patrol came down with something bad, he's in the hospital right now. So if you could take over for him, that would be a big help." Ryota hated when people said things like, "if you could"; he knew that he had no option. It was not a matter of if he could do it, even if he couldn't he would still be made to. This guy just didn't want to deal with the difficulty of telling him straightforward that he was required to do it. Either way, it didn't matter.

"Sure, I've got it covered."

WC: 275
TWC: 808