Oops... (Kazuya/Open)

[Mitsukai]

Kazuya's reaction time was fast. One second Mitsukai was falling and then the next she found herself wrapped up safely in his arms in what could only be referred to as a hug. She was pressed up even closer against him then she had the first time she had fallen on him earlier that day. It didn't help that both of them were not wearing too much this time. Kazuya's tank top was light enough she could feel the muscles underneath the shirt. And with her own body against his there was no doubt he could feel her own chest pressed up against his. Even if he did not notice it she was suddenly aware of it and it made her blush as well.

".... You okay?"

"Yeah...." She said, trying to hide her own embarrassment about this situation. Finally after what felt like an eternity he released her, putting away the clock so there would be no repeat of the previous incident and giving her the chance to breath. It was amazing how many awkward moments these two had in one day that had either unnoticed between the pair. Hopefully this wouldn't continue when they started living together.

[Kazuya Hikari]

Damn straight he could feel her chest pressed up against his, though it was more like her chest pressed up against his stomach, as he became aware of it and blushed furiously. Sure didn't help the two of them were not wearing as much clothing as when she had collided up against him earlier. It was absolutely astounding just how many awkward moments the both of them had today, some that neither of them had noticed. After making sure she had gotten her balance, Kazuya let her go, letting out a inward sigh of relief. He looked the other way as he rubbed the back of his head, trying to hide his embarrassment like Mitsukai was. Awk-ward. He then sat down on his bed, waiting for his heart to stop racing.

He then motioned slightly with his head at his bed to Mitsukai, letting her know she could sit down beside him on his bed... if she wanted to. He then sat completely on his bed and leaned against the wall his bed was pushed right up against, as he looked out his window. It was late, but Kazuya didn't feel tired, even though physically, his body was exhausted. Kuro woke up slightly, as he rolled over in Kazuya's lap and promptly went back to sleep, as Kazuya absentmindedly stroked Kuro's stomach with his index finger. Funny how the situations he and Mitsukai had gotten to, made him remember the ones he had ended up in with... Emily...

[Mitsukai]

Kazuya went back on his bed motioning for her to sit down next to him, after a few seconds she took the seat he offered her. Trying to get back to a sense of normalcy. Sure things seemed to be getting a bit strange at times but that didn't mean that there was something was going on. It was just a few awkward incidents so there was no need to get weirded out and start acting any different.

There was a moment of silence as they sat there together. Mitsukai was trying to think of something to say or do to break the silence but she had never been the best at making light conversation, especially after an awkward moment. The most she could do was watch Kazuya stroke the sleeping kitten in his lap.

"Have you had any other pets besides Kuro?" she asked, well it was something that could keep a conversation going for a little bit. Not much but something. And technically speaking Kuro was his pet, just more of an outdoorsy pet. He seemed to take good care of the little feline, maybe he had some experience with cats?

[Kazuya Hikari]

Kazuya saw from the corner of his eye Mitsukai sit down beside him, as he went back to looking out of the window. There's nothing go on between the two of them... Yeah. Right. But since this was Kazuya we're talking about, he was quite dense when it came to realizing this kind of stuff, including his own feelings. "Hm?" Kazuya murmured, as he looked over at Mitsukai. "... Oh. No, Kuro is the first one." Kazuya replied, as he looked down at the kitten in his lap. "I've never owned a pet before in my life, not even when I was just a kid. I always wanted a pet, but I never really got a chance to ask." And it was true.

With his mother having been killed, and his father working on his school after her death, neither Kyoko or Kazuya managed to ask him if they could get one. It was just as well, Kazuya had been pre-occupied with his Taekwondo training, and Kyoko had been busy with her own hobbies, which didn't leave either of them a lot of time to look after a pet. Kazuya never had any experience with cats either, but behind his sarcastic nature, he was light-hearted and care-free. Not many people saw that side of him, only a couple actually did, most were driven away by his sarcasm and cynicism. "How about you? Have you had any other pets beside your pet kitten?"

[Mitsukai]

"... Oh. No, Kuro is the first one." "I've never owned a pet before in my life, not even when I was just a kid. I always wanted a pet, but I never really got a chance to ask."

"Really?" she said a bit surprised. "It sure doesn't seem like it. You take such good care of the little guy its as if you are pretty good with animals." He did seem to have a way with cats. It was a shame he couldn't keep Kuro in his apartment with him that much.

"How about you? Have you had any other pets beside your pet kitten?"

"Technically speaking the kitten I have now is my first official pet." she answered. "But I had a habit as a kid of taking care of strays." It was a bit odd to admit that to most people. In fact the only other people to know about her love of felines was Drea and Adrian. But Kazuya seemed to like them too so there was no harm in revealing that. It was good to talk about the things she liked without having to worry too much what the other thought.

[Kazuya Hikari]

"Really? I never had any experience with animals, let alone cats before." Kazuya replied, as he gripped his chin in a thinking manner. Despite never having taken care of a pet before, Kazuya did have experience taking care of someone else, his older sister Kyoko. Even though she had looked after Kazuya ever since he was little, before and after their mother had been killed, Kazuya looked after Kyoko too, making sure she was alright. The bond the two of them shared was almost like fraternal twins, despite Kyoko being one year older than he was. And yes, we all know looking after a sister and looking after a kitten are two completely different things, but either way, deep down, Kazuya was a kind person.

"Nothing wrong with looking after strays." Kazuya commented, as he casually shrugged his shoulders. "Stray or not, any animal knows when a person is kind to them or when a person is mistreating them." Kazuya had never been someone to judge others by what they liked or who they were, they were who they were, simple as that. And Kazuya rather see someone for who they really were, instead of just looking at their outward appearance, which to him, told very little about the person. Very few people actually knew what Kazuya liked, and what they did know, was not all that much in the first place. "My life wasn't exactly great, growing up..."

[Mitsukai]

"Nothing wrong with looking after strays." "Stray or not, any animal knows when a person is kind to them or when a person is mistreating them."

She nodded in agreement to that. Stray animals were still loving and caring towards those that showed them some love and affection. Most people didn't see it like that though, when most people saw a stray animal wandering around they simply saw them as a pest. An unwanted creature that needed to be disposed of. It was quite cruel really, none of the cats she had cared for wanted to be abandoned. They were really sweet once you were nice to them.

"My life wasn't exactly great, growing up..."

She watched him for a second as she debated about pressing him a bit further on that statement. Since coming to 259 she discovered quickly that just about everyone had some sort of troubling past. Some so messed up that it made her own childhood seem relatively normal. Kazuya obviously was no exception but would he be comfortable enough with her asking about it? Couldn't hurt to try.... she thought about it for a second. If I step over a boundary I'll find out soon enough.

"How so?" she asked him. Waiting to see his response, if he seemed uncomfortable with her asking she would quickly stop. There was no need to badger him about something he didn't want to talk about. She wouldn't like it if he did that to her. Mitsukai herself never really spoke of her past coming to this place. The only one who really asked her had been Sara, even then she had been very vague. The only ones that knew that her parents were dead were Katsuri and Kevala....or at least they had to have assumed that when they found out she was living with her aunt and uncle. It was something she kept private about and if that was the same with Kazuya she could understand and respect his wishes.

[Kazuya Hikari]

"... My mother was killed when I was only 6 years old. " Before he could even stop himself, Kazuya had already begun to answer Mitsukai's question, which was rather surprising, especially to him, he never told anyone about his past before. Even to this day, Kazuya didn't know how his mother died, not because it was so long ago, but because he didn't see what had killed her. "And my father was killed 3 years ago." The Doctor had been the one who told Kazuya how his father, the invincible Kane Hikari, or at least, that was how Kazuya saw his father as, had died. Nobody, not even Emily, knew that Kazuya's parents were dead. Which is why when she had come to his house back at their first training session, he had told her his father was working, to explain his absence. Such a simple, yet logical explanation.

"... At the high school I first attended, one that my father had built, St. Paragon's Secondary, I was involved in a battle, The Paladin War. I had to watch my classmates die at the hands of The Paladins, because all of us, somehow or another, had a Qi." Kazuya lifted his left index finger up, the tattoo he had on his left shoulder clearly visible, as he made a flame the size of a lighter flame appear on the tip of his finger. It had been a bloody and horrific battle, although The Paladins had won, it came at a heavy price. Both sides had suffered heavy losses, with many casualties for both forces. Kazuya himself had been heavily injured, the scars from the battle staying with him forever, literally. "... What about you, Mitsu? What was your life like?"

[Mitsukai]

Mitsukai listened quietly to Kazuya's story, he had to deal with more trauma in his life growing then she had. Aside from her recently developed split personality disorder his past was more rough. She knew what it was like to be singled out for being different but it had never been to the point that others wanted her dead. They didn't want her around but they never wanted to kill her. All because he and the other students like him in his father's school had unique powers. All because he was a little different others did horrible things to him and others like him and now he would bear the burden of their actions with him for the rest of his life. Just like how she had to live with the burden of her split persona's actions. There still was some nights when she couldn't sleep because she could still feel the blood on her hands from the days she woke up when Nami had been strong enough to take hold of her body while she slept.

There was something though that they did have in common. They were both orphans. It was just that for her her parents had died in an accident, not murdered like his own. She knew what it was like to lose the ones you loved the most. Her family was the only thing she had growing up and in one incident they were taken away from her. She would never see them again, neither of them would ever see their parents again.

"... What about you, Mitsu? What was your life like?"

"I used to live with my parents in Japan." she began, it was a bit surprising that she was willing to tell. "Born and raised there though I don't look like it." Her parents had moved there after they got married for business reasons. They weren't Japanese but they respected the culture and enjoyed living there. They raised her just like every other kid in that country, even giving her a Japanese name (Though not a very common name) to fit in. She might not look it but she still considered herself Japanese. "It was a pretty normal life except for the bullying....I had no friends and didn't get along well with other kids. But it wasn't too bad, my parents were always around to help me." No matter how bad of a day she had they always tried to cheer her up. Her peers might've never liked her but her parents love helped her through it, it was bearable because they were around.

"But one day they got in a car accident and died. The only people that would take me in were some of my relatives in the states...unfortunately all they cared about was my parents money, they didn't want anything to do with me." Her mother and father weren't as wealthy as someone like David Blaze was and certainly not as much as Ryu was but for her aunt and uncle who had little it was enough for them to use her. They only made a tough situation worst. Thanks to them she had trust issues before she came to 259 and had been even more distant then she had been before.

[Kazuya Hikari]

Kazuya listened just as quietly as Mitsukai had to his story, to her story. Although she had not suffered as much as he had, nonetheless, her past was by no means, any less tragic. It was true she didn't look Japanese, she did look a bit Asian, and she did speak Japanese, but for all purposes, she did not look like one. But that didn't matter to Kazuya, she spoke Japanese, she had a Japanese name, though admittedly, he did a double-take when he learned her name was Mitsukai, it sounded so close to the name of the Ex-School Captain before David, Mitsuki Park. He even had to make sure she was in fact, NOT Mitsuki, but he had done so very discretely. Bullying... No matter where you were in the world, it was always there, whether it was physically bullying someone, or emotionally bullying. Thankfully Kazuya never had to experience it, although being the son of the former Principal at St. Paragon's presented him with some isolation, it also brought him respect and challenges, and subsequently, friends.

"Money does things to people, especially if they are presented with an opportunity to acquire a large sum of it." His father, while not as rich as someone like David Blaze, had still been well off, since he had been the head of Hikari Industries before he died. Kazuya had been afforded a comfortable lifestyle because of it, despite living in Kane's Floor located in the prison school itself. After his father had died, both Kyoko and he had inherited their father's money and became the heads of Hikari Industries, but such a heavy responsibility was too much for two teenagers to handle, and in the end, Hikari Industries was taken over by the Awren's after Kazuya's failed attempt in helping Matrim and Reira escape from St. Paragon's, and he became a criminal himself. "... Things are different now. There are people who care about you, some who care about you much more deeply than others do..."

[Mitsukai]

"Money does things to people, especially if they are presented with an opportunity to acquire a large sum of it."

"Yeah....money makes monsters out of people." If her mother and father didn't have a penny to her name then her aunt and uncle would probably had never adopted her. In a way it might have been a good thing. If they hadn't taken her in then she would have never come to 259. Now she wasn't even living with them anymore. Thanks to Katsuri she was free from the burden of her family ties. She was better off now in some ways, even without a family she was better off.

She had to wonder though exactly how much money she had left from her parents. She had no legal rights to access it until she was legally an adult, there was no way for her to know how much was left after they tapped into it. For all she knew the one thing her parents she had was all gone.

"... Things are different now. There are people who care about you, some who care about you much more deeply than others do..."

"Yeah..." She had people that did care about her. It was something that she had never expected to happen to her before. That people she never shared any blood ties with would actually give a damn about her. For so long she had been used to being shunned that it was hard to see anyone treat her nicely. "Guess we both have people that care about us. Your sister even though she is not here right now still loves you right? Its love that keeps people like us going."

[Kazuya Hikari]

"Greed changes people, and not in a good way..." Kazuya knew firsthand what greed could do to a person. His step uncle, Kaneshiro, Kane's older step brother, had attempted to take over Hikari Industries, even using his own son, since Kazuya had entrusted the position of head of the company to Mr. Hawthorne, his father's personal bodyguard, until either he or Kyoko were old enough to take the position back once more. But it wasn't for the money that Kaneshiro strove for, it was the power he wanted so badly, having it been snatched away when he was younger, that he was willing to do whatever it took to get it. But things didn't go his way, and in the end, his step-uncle fled, to avoid the authorities. Kazuya didn't know how much money was left from the inheritance, and honestly, he didn't want to know. Money was never a big concern for him, he didn't hate it, but he didn't chase after it either. If it was there, it was there. "Yeah..." Kazuya replied, a small smile appearing on his face, as he nodded his head slightly.

"Kyoko and I were extremely close growing up, ever since I was a little kid, she had always looked after me, despite only being a year older than me." Just as Kazuya had Kyoko caring about him, he in turn, had people he cared about, a few he cared more deeply about than others. "... To protect those I care about deeply... that's what drives me to grow stronger... unlike Gabe. He wants to get stronger simply to accomplish his goals. At the rate he's going... he will eventually self-destruct... and there may be no one to help him when that happens." Kazuya didn't like to admit it, but the path Gabriel was walking down... was a path that could and possibly lead to him destroying himself. "... I will get stronger... much stronger... and protect the people I care deeply about..."

[Mitsukai]

"Yeah..." "Kyoko and I were extremely close growing up, ever since I was a little kid, she had always looked after me, despite only being a year older than me."

Mitsukai smiled seeing how much Kazuya cared for his sister. It must be nice having a sibling that you loved and cared for and who cared for you in return. Even though his sister was not here with him right now no matter where she went her love for her little brother would always be there for him. He could still feel it like how she could probably still feel his own love.

"... To protect those I care about deeply... that's what drives me to grow stronger... unlike Gabe. He wants to get stronger simply to accomplish his goals. At the rate he's going... he will eventually self-destruct... and there may be no one to help him when that happens."

“Gabriel does what he does for more than just power,” She said. “He also has a person he wishes to protect and that’s partly why he wants power so badly.” As much as she disagreed with Gabriel’s methods she had been around him long enough to see it was a bit more than just a power trip. The way he cared about Kevala despite his attempts to mask that, even the way he went about it was proof that there was something there. But what he did was harmful, even if he meant well if he continued doing what he did he would only harm those he cared for along with himself. “But I cannot deny that what he is doing is only leading himself to a path of destruction. Destruction for him and anyone else that he is close to…” It was because of that Mitsukai tried to not get so close. If she did care too much for someone who would not even listen to her warnings it would be harder to pull away when the time came.

[Kazuya Hikari]

Learning Gabriel had someone to protect greatly surprised Kazuya, as a look of mild surprise appeared on Kazuya's face, which more looked most, if not all the time. Kazuya had drifted and kept away from Gabriel for so long, he did not know what was currently happening regarding him, and thus, learning that Gabriel wished to become stronger to protect someone, was something new to hear for Kazuya. "... So he too, has someone he wishes to protect... And he might believe that the way he goes to obtain his strength... may seem the best way..." Kazuya speculated, as he gripped his chin with his left hand, deep in thought. Sooner or later, there would be someone that a person would want to protect, whether they realized it or not. For Kazuya, it was Emily, despite having broken up with her.

Kazuya, while he had been friends and ally to Gabriel, had never been close to Gabriel, not because of the path he was going to go down eventually, but because of the fact that Gabriel had broken apart from Militia, and created his own gang, thus switching from becoming Kazuya's ally, to a potential enemy, and Kazuya sadly had to admit, he did ended up becoming an enemy. The past could not be re-written. What was done, was done. "... But enough about Gabriel Seran. We could speak of what could potentially happen to him, and why he does what he does all night, but it would not change very much. Gabriel is who he is, and I'm afraid we could not do much to change that. I can only hope that he realizes and changes the path he will end up traversing, should he continue onwards."

[Mitsukai]

Kazuya's reaction to what she had said did not surprise the girl in the least. It was really hard to notice that Gabriel cared about anyone at all besides his own goals. But Mitsukai had been around long enough to know that to some extent he did care about Kevala in a way that was more then her being his ally. The way he went about protecting that girl was what gave it away. If Mitsukai thought he never cared about her best friend then she wouldn't have bothered to ask for his help in finding her the time she had been kidnapped. Of course she did not put all her faith in that knowledge when she went to him that night but that was because she had to prepare for anything, including his denial to help out.

What was holding Gabriel back was himself, for whatever reason he kept others at a distance. In a way just like how Mitsukai did when she was younger. Perhaps something nasty happened in his past that made him like that. Either ways he had issues and there was nothing that she could do about it.

"... But enough about Gabriel Seran. We could speak of what could potentially happen to him, and why he does what he does all night, but it would not change very much. Gabriel is who he is, and I'm afraid we could not do much to change that. I can only hope that he realizes and changes the path he will end up traversing, should he continue onwards."

"Yeah... I already figured he would not change his ways...I actually tried to stop him from doing something painful to someone I cared for but it didn't end well." That night was a night she rather forget...it was....awkward to say the least <.< in the end she was so mad that she even let Nami out just to try and kill him...

"Moving on..." she had to think for a moment what to talk about next. It was kind of hard to think of anything to say on the spot, she wasn't that used to random conversations. Mitsukai was used to just going with the flow, going with whatever she was given. "...I can't think of anything." she laughed nervously. For now she had run out of ideas for conversation starters.