[Day 4 Early Night] To Jigoku with Yume-Do

[Matsu Nintoku]

The Lion had absorbed the Unicorn customs pretty quickly; ever since he discovered their food did not upset him as it did many of his comrades, the Unicorn influence had been permeating into his being.

"Let me what?" he whispered as he inched closer, his face a breath away from hers.

[Ide Amaya]

She could feel his hot breath, smell the sake on his lips, and both were as rough and coarse as violence. Her heart was racing. She was tired, she'd been through too much that day, and she felt trapped, ensnared. She wanted to know what his kiss would taste like, what it would feel like. He was strong, powerful, and that made her feel fragile.

But her stomach twisted and churned, she couldn't, not now. "I shouldn't allow you to touch me so freely." Surely it wasn't a lie if she left out the reason why.

[Matsu Nintoku]

Her words made him nod "You shouldn't," he whispered before leaning back. He moved to take another sip but found his cup empty. His eyes returned towards her and for a moment it seemed he was to break away instead what followed was the culmination of his Unicorn influences.

He closed in into her and planted a kiss with her. A sake fueled kiss that carried the vulnerability that his revelation had caused. Once he finished he leaned back "I apologize but I had to do that."

[Ide Amaya]

Her heart flutters wildly in her chest, and she doesn't know what to say. Instead she lifts her own sake cup and drinks deeply. "I forgive you, Nintoku-Sama." Finding some semblance of her propriety, she places a few inches of distance between herself and the handsome Lion.

[Matsu Nintoku]

The Lion eyes her with curiosity "What is the matter Amaya-san"

[Ide Amaya]

"It is nothing," well that was an outright lie, she chided herself. "But is late, and we are alone, and almost strangers."

[Matsu Nintoku]

"And yet we've shared things about ourselves that nobody else had heard," he said feeling slightly betrayed. "But I understand. It is getting late."

[Ide Amaya]

She hears the pain in his voice, "Nintoku-Sama, I..." she looks away. She swallows the remaining sake in her cup and gathers herself. "I am fond of you, it's true, and I believe I could grow to love you very quickly. But not like this, not tonight. No matter how I wish things might be that simple." It was the truth, though it was not complete, and her voice carried all the earnestness of her heart, for she doesn't wish to hurt him.

[Matsu Nintoku]

The Lion felt like an idiot. Did he really think he was in a pillow book? Or perhaps the sake was actually a mystical gateway to a far-off land where such things actually happened. His mind also rushed towards the free-spirited Khulun and his heart was clutched by both jealously and a feeling he couldn't quite describe.

He dismissed her concerns with an understanding gesture. "I know Amaya-san and it is I that must apologize," his tone carried his usual politeness.

[Ide Amaya]

She knew she had wounded him, and her heart ached in her chest. He deserved better. Such timing! she lamented, Fortunes, be kind, have I abused your blessings?

"I came to you this night," and overhead thunder roared, as if in punctuation, "to aid you. Have I failed in my mission, Nintoku-Sama?'

[Matsu Nintoku]

His face warmed up and a small smile surfaced as he shook his head "You have not," his tone albeit warm still was cold when in relation to the previous tone. "I merely am tired. I'm sorry if I caused offense."

[Ide Amaya]

Looking down, "do not judge me too harshly, Nintoku-Sama. I am a foolish girl with too much still to learn."