A First Meeting: (Private: Hana & Shairako)

The girl was slightly irked by the sudden grin he had. Was he planning something?

She guessed not, when he dropped the grin within seconds. Perhaps excited to meet another like him? Yes, it was possible. She'd felt the same way before, whenever she was given a chance to be useful to Takashi when she was much younger. Now it was still the same, although perhaps she did hide her eagerness instead of so obviously beaming at the mention of whatever request he had for her. "God metal slayer..." she murmured upon hearing him speak. He was the opposite of her, which made it even more interesting.

She listened quietly as he explained further. She wondered why his brother would give up using God Slayer magic; especially when he was already born with the magic. She was sure that being born with such a strong, ancient magic would've made him powerful - why'd he give that all up? "Why did he give up his magic, especially if he was born- What? Born with it?" she muttered the last few words to herself. It had taken her by surprise; realizing that his brother had been born with the magic. Born. Not... Trained, or gained from lacrima. Was that possible? She hadn't known about it before, since most slayers either got their powers from their respective mentors or lacrimas.

Hana was unsure of how to answer his question. "I made a contract with my mentor... And in exchange for power, I gave up a small portion of my soul." She answered hesitantly, wondering if he'd see her as inhuman for giving away something like that. Not that it affected her much anyway, since she'd probably never see him again after this. Staring down at the pieces of metal, her ruby colored eyes widened. "Ah. I forgot to place an order."

Hana cursed in silence upon noticing how his mood changed. She might've accidentally brought up some unpleasant memories for him. However, he seemed to perk up once more upon hearing that she hadn't placed an order. It was slightly embarrassing, to have gotten so carried away that she completely forgot to order, but she had been told she was a little airheaded at times, so it wasn't very surprising. A ghost of a smile made its way to her face when he explained that he'd ordered a large quantity of metal just to see the look on the waiter's face. In an odd way, he resembled... Him she thought, but quickly dismissed of any memories or thoughts of that person. He was no longer related to her. Just a part of her past now. Nox Animus had fallen, so it no longer existed. Neither did her team.

She couldn't help but bitterly laugh at herself whenever she thought of her team. She'd wanted to believe that they'd last long, maybe a few years or so, or as long as all of them were in the guild. How naive she'd been. Takashi had been right after all when he said they wouldn't last long. He always was, she'd think to herself, nodding her head to Shairako to thank him for sharing his meal. Her fingers reached out to grab a piece, then took a bite out of it. It was good. Not as good as the railings of the Noximus, but still good.

She was surprised to find out that he hasn't seen his brother for 5 years. Although there were some cases where siblings went their separate ways for years before seeing each other again, 5 years of not being able to see one's sibling was... Sad. She couldn't imagine being away that long from Mikoto. She'd probably pass out from worrying about him so much. As she continued to listen, the world seemed to come to a stop when she heard Shairako's description of his brother. Impossible. That description... It fit him so well. It couldn't be right? He had never mentioned anything about a brother. But the resemblance was there. The hair, the quirky personalities, and the magic. As far as she knew, the only Metal God Slayer she'd known from the only airship guild she'd ever been in, who went to Savage Skull... Was Indar Blackshield.

"Shairako... Your brother... May I know his name?"

She hadn't realised she'd been holding her breath the moment Indar was mentioned until a little later. The slight ache she felt in her chest every time he was mentioned annoyed her to no end. Months. She hadn't gotten into contact with him - with any of the others - for months. Why hadn't she let go of the past yet?

She nearly choked on the small metal part she'd begun on when Shairako mentioned that he had seven brothers. That was an extremely large family. Although, three were now dead, leaving four alive.

Three were dead. Three of their brothers were dead. Gone. That was a likely reason as to why the male had appeared slightly down earlier. She guessed that they must have been close to each other."I'm sorry that I asked." she apologized, giving a slight bow.

Then came the somewhat surprising fact of Indar changing his surname. Well, sort of. It wasn't really a change, simply a lie to cover up his roots. She didn't entirely understand why, but she knew enough to keep her from asking any more questions about their family, lest she triggered unhappy thoughts for the blonde again. Plus, it wasn't that uncommon anyway. People used aliases and covers all the time - she was an example of them. It was however, somewhat pleasing to know a little bit more about her former teammate, like she had wanted to way before all the madness happened. Removing herself from her thoughts, she looked at where the male's eyes should be, behind the red bandana. "Lamia Scale... What's it like? For you? she asks, in an attempt to actually stir up a decent conversation for once, to get rid of the awkwardness in the air.

Hana saw the resemblance between Indar and Shairako again when he grinned, and this time was sure that they were brothers. It was strange, however, that someone like him was in a legal guild. Not that he appeared threatening or dark, but with the signature twisted grin shared by him and his brother, as well as what he'd said about his guild being not overly under the command of the magic council. That could mean he wasn't fond of them either. She couldn't help but disagree, however. No matter how small of a hold the council had over his guild, as long as it was legal, it meant that they would naturally go against dark and possibly neutral.

"Your guild sounds... Enjoyable. Unfortunately, any legal guild is more or less under the control of the council. You'll eventually end up confronting your brother - and it's likely that you'll be on different sides. Would you still choose to fight?" she asks. She had no intention of trying to torment him or play mind games, but she hoped he'd at least know this fact. She was sure no one would kill their own sibling, right? Even if they weren't extremely close, they should at least have some sort of affection towards each other for having spent their childhood together.

Oh wait, his family was not so normal. They were insane by heritage, and one brother had already killed another. Who was she to say that wouldn't happen? And now that she thought about it, would her step-siblings do so as well? Right now, the only thing preventing them from doing so was her position, power and her being the favourite of their parent. Then, what was to happen if she lost all of that?

She made note to ponder about this matter later on. For now, she didn't want to trouble herself a lot. The pink-haired demon slayer was taken aback by her awuaintance's sudden question. "D... Date?" she repeated, muddled. A date involved romance, and she'd only met him just now. Then she reminded herself that he said it felt like a date, not considered it as one.

"That's good." she says, unsure of what else to say. Although now she knew why both brothers were so full of life. Why Indar never appeared down in front of her. Why Shairako, a man she'd just met, appeared so... Carefree.

She arches a brow when the blonde makes a peculiar sound - one that she had heard other girls making whenever there was something adorable was around. Guys did that too, but not as often as girls did. That, she had not even the slightest clue as to why. "You know, you are quite adorable." Without even thinking, she replies with the usual, "Thank you, you look a-" and stops just before she returns it, her mind finally registering what he had said. Her eyes retain their steel gaze as she subconsciously buries half her face in her thick red scarf, concealing rose-tinted cheeks.

She was a sucker for praises like these. She rarely got praises like these from her parent, so nearly every time a compliment was received, she was easily tamed. The situations and person were also factors of course. A praise given by a threat or target rarely got to her, since she would have an entirely different mindset. Compliments like these however, when directed to an unprepared, unsuspecting Hana, were very... Effective. She sinks her face lower into the scarf at the thought of it again, frustrated and pink-faced.

Meanwhile, watching from inside his host, a certain demon mentor groans, slapping a hand onto his face.

Aware of his staring, she scowled behind her scarf, forcing the blush on her cheeks to recede. This would not too. She was being so... So weak! Vulnerable! Completely, utterly unacceptable! Hana did not flinch when he walked up next to her, having begun to adjust to his quirks. When he grabbed her hand again, she was barely given any time to react or pull away.

She grabbed a handful of the remaining metal pieces on the plate and dropped them into her mouth, not wanting to waste the food. As they left the restaurant, Hana caught sight of the water staring at them, appearing extremely confused and slightly weirded out. Well, it probably wasn't everyday that he came across customers like them. "Wait, where are we going?" she asks, breaking the silence. She was aware that wherever he was taking her, it was most likely an isolated area as they were passing by lesser amounts of people. If this was how he planned to kidnap her or try anything funny, he was in for one hell of an ass-kicking.

Hana's eyes gleamed upon seeing- no, smelling, the bakery, before it even entered her range of sight. To say it was a surprise would be an understatement. It was an extremely pleasant one, for the young slayer had a love for baked treats, especially cookies.

He continued to pull her, a little on the rough side, but it probably wouldn't bruise or anything, perhaps become just a little bit sore the next day. Her acquaintance ran in immediately, leaving her to wait outside and admire the treats displayed by the window before he came out within moments, with bags of treats, though she smelled more doughnuts than anything.

'Ah, no cookies. Pity.' she thought, but accepted the bag he gave her nonetheless. Cookies or not, baked goods were still her favourite. She bowed again, a little more lowly this time, grateful that he had not only treated her to a filling meal, but also delightful snacks. "Thank you very much, you're very kind." she said, a faint outline of a smile lingering on her face for a moment before she turned her attention to the bag of treats.

The heavenly taste of the sweet, sweet dough perked her up, as well as made her day a little better than it should've been, as had her encounter with the man. He was fairly decent, excluding his quirks and all, but he was alright for a Lamia Scale mage whom she'd just met. He respected her privacy, even shared what she assumed were truths of his family. Plus, he was Indar's sibling - it seemed like both cared for one another, so Shairako was more or less another frie- No. No friends. No. More. Friends. No more waiting, no more mulling over such strange notions. She had to play safe.

"...Again with the date? Well... I do suppose it would seem like one if you insist. I myself aren't very sure what a date of... Romance, should be like."

"Ah, right. I just assumed this was a romantic sort of date, since it's not a business one." she said, flinching when his hand landed on her head. She was used to contact - just not with people other than her brother and father. Although it had been a while since Takashi last did that. Perhaps it was because she wasn't a child anymore. "Overthink?" she repeated under her breath, puzzled. Was she? She didn't think she was. How puzzling.

Her hand was again picked up, this time held in his. She noted that his hands against hers were pleasantly warm. She hadn't noticed it before, since he was pulling her along and she was too caught up in her thoughts to notice, but now that they were standing in a more quiet, desolate place, she could feel it all. "As do I. You seem very... Different, from what I expected of a light mage." she answered, then regretted having used the word 'light'. She should've used Lamia Scale, saying light made her sound as if she wasn't fond of the lights. What if he found her suspicious?

Red orbs glanced up to where the male's should be. The nagging curiosity at the back of her mind was growing, and she wanted to know what it was behind the red fabric that hid his eyes from the world. He could see her, right? The fabric was a little translucent, so maybe he wore the bandana to hide their appearance. Albinism was out of the question, since he didn't look very pale, neither did he seem to be missing much pigmentation. "You don't need to answer this, but why do you hide your eyes?"

Hana mentally face-palmed at herself when Shairako became silent. How wonderful. She'd stepped on a land mine - again. "I'm sorry I asked, I was just-" she began the moment he let go of her hand, but stopped when he began to undo his bandana. She close her eyes, letting out an internal sigh of relief, glad to know he wasn't upset with her for asking. When she opened them again, she found herself staring at unnaturally white eyes that lacked irises, surrounded by marred skin.

Needless to say, she was speechless. Although the area around his eyes was scarred, he somehow still had a decently attractive face. That was definitely not a look everyone could carry well. She was amazed though, how a blind person could still find their way around without any help. This was the result scientists had spent ages searching for, and here Shairako had it. But the thing that made it different was magic. Without it, he was most probably just like any other normal blind human.

"I see... Well, it's understandable that you would want to be around someone whom you can see, colors and all." she murmured. Without any form of thought, she reached her right hand out towards his face, as if in a trance. Her delicate fingers traced along the scars gently, as if putting pressure on his skin might tear it. Then she realized what she was doing, and her hand immediately retracted from his face. She bit her lower lip, holding herself back from cursing at her strange behavior. "I apologize, that was out of line. I was unaware that my... Curiosity, had gotten the better of me." she said, taking a step away from him. The paper bag in her hand crinkled from the sudden tightening of her grip on it.

She had expected him to back off immediately, since she'd more or less just invaded his privacy by touching the scars. The fact that he didn't, and instead held her hand in his again, came as a surprise. He had that serious look on his face again, and it was as if the carefree and quirky individual just now had never existed. And then it hit her. A mask. Like her, and many others, a mask to conceal what was unnecessary for others to know of, be it a weakness or a hidden card.

The unpleasant feeling in the pit of her stomach returned, this time in a different way, when Shairako revealed that the scars marring his face were given by his father. His father whom he excused with going crazy from taking care of seven kids. That was just stupid. Ridiculous. And a whole lot of other things she'd rather not say, in fear of dirtying her mouth. Takashi had just as big of a family, if not more, and he was as sane as one could be. What gave Shairako and Indar's parent the excuse?

She arched a brow. "You're of hellish origin then? If you are indeed, and your grandfather is as well known as you say, it's likely my mentor knows of him. Don't worry - I slay with reason, and you have yet to give me one, demon or not." she states calmly, before he quickly redoes his bandana over his eyes, once more concealing the marred skin and pigment-lacking eyes. With that accomplished, she was tugged away yet again, away from prying eyes of others. The sight of the blossoming cherry tree they had stopped beneath in their hurry was one to behold, brilliant shades of pink dancing about in the gentle breeze that passed by through in pulses. When asked if she could be trusted, Hana paused. Could she be trusted? She wondered too, Someone like her, who acted solely on benefits and orders, someone who was deeply involved in the underworld, someone who had snuffed out dozens of lives within a short lifetime?

"In all honesty, I do not know either. I'm sure you're aware that my relationship with the light is not a favorable one. I'd make a terrible friend - my last... Friendly relationship shows it all; how incompetent I was when my team was falling apart. I don't even trust myself to make decisions. So tell me, just how trustworthy do you suppose I am?" she answered him with a long question of her own. All this that was weighing her down - she wanted closure. At least something, anything, to put her mind at rest.