Hayasui and Rachel: Fire Forged Friends?

Hayasui considered Rachel's response for a moment, not missing the forced smile or the diversionary change of subject. Deciding to let it go for now, Hayasui allowed a sigh as she got out of the car, moving over to Rachel's side to help her get out.

"It's a nice, quiet neighborhood," Hayasui said simply as she led Rachel inside, "Far enough from my clan's estate that I don't have to worry about them happening across it, and everyone here keeps to themselves for the most part, so it suits me just fine."

The inside of the house was a curious blend between old and new. The stairs to their immediate right were ignored in favor of the rest of the living room, complete with a home theater kind of set-up of sorts, facing a pair of recliners and a small sofa. Nearby was a well-lit dining table, empty at the moment.

"Okay, here we are," Hayasui said, leading Rachel over to one of the recliners and helping her sit back on it.

"Make yourself at home," she said, handing Rachel the TV remote, "I'll be right back."

As Hayasui quickly left Rachel, heading upstairs, she had to resist the urge to squeal out of nervousness. Rachel was literally the first person to have entered the house aside from Hayasui herself (The delivery guys never crossed the threshold, so they didn't count), so this had to be as close as she could manage to perfect.

Rachel looked at the remote in her hand curiously. Why was it whenever someone was trying to be hospitable around here the first thing they do is give her the TV remote? Japanese TV was just weird and confusing to her, so she didn't really watch much when she arrived.

Still, she had to admit, her "idea" of sitting around on the mat felt pretty good now that she was in this recliner. The plush seat almost made the aches and sores on her body feel like they weren't there, and she curled up with her arms around her knees to feel that much more at home. With a shrug, she flipped on the TV and looked to see if there was at least anything hilariously confusing on while she waited for Hayasui to get back.

Hayasui rummaged around in her bedroom for a few minutes, cursing herself for having possibly lost that ever important container, one of the few things she'd brought with her when she'd left her clan. Finally, she found it, hidden under a Kongou plushie of all things. Setting the treasured plush down nearby, Hayasui took the container, mostly full of an odd mint-green paste with her, along with a few sheets of plastic, just in case.

Taking a moment to regain her composure, Hayasui made her way downstairs to find Rachel flipping through channels. Approaching nervously, Hayasui called out to the other girl.

"Good to see you're enjoying yourself," Hayasui said, "If you'll just relax a bit, I think I can help out some with whatever is left of the pain. Just hold up your shirt for a moment."

With that, Hayasui would gingerly shift Rachel forward, placing one of the thin plastic sheets behind her before unscrewing the cap and starting to work the green paste into Rachel's bruised back, the numbing agents in the paste soon going to work in soothing the pain in Rachel's back.

Once Hayasui was finished, doing her best to hold back a blush at how soft Rachel's skin felt under her hands, she'd then lift Rachel's injured arm up, placing another sheet of plastic under it before proceeding to rub the paste into her arm as well.

By the time Hayasui came back down, Rachel was giggling away at some advertisement about giant monsters and toothpaste or something. It was probably pretty standard fare for Hayasui, but to Rachel, it was hilarious.

"Oh hey, I was just-" she blushed a bit at Hayasui's request as she pulled up her shirt. Sure, she was more exposed to this girl for the better part of the time they had known each other, but there was something about removing clothes that felt that much more... sultry, than not wearing much to begin with. And on top of that, this was not a level of hospitality she was used to. In Rachel's experience, good hospitality extended to "beer's in the fridge," and that's if the host really liked her.

As she leaned forward, she turned her eyes forward, hoping it would somehow make being rubbed down a little less awkward. "It's really okay, you know. I've walked off a lot worse before." After a few moments of relative silence, she added a "Thanks."

"It's fine," Hayasui said with a smile and a chuckle, "Really, it's the least I can do after the beating I put you through."

With her arm finished, Hayasui moved to her stomach, trying not to think too much about how soft she felt under her hands as she applied the paste to the multitude of bruises scattered over her stomach.

With her task completed, Hayasui screwed the cap back onto the container and set it down on the nearby table before taking a seat at the sofa near Rachel.

"Wait a minute," Hayasui said, "You're saying you've had worse happen to you than this?"

Some of the color drained from Rachel's face as Hayasui pried some more, but she realized that there wasn't much point in being so secretive about it anymore. "I mean.... yeah. Things get pretty rough around here and I know you just wanted to win, but... some of the girls here just want to hurt you. And sometimes rape you. And some of the guys..." she trailed off for a moment before continuing. "That's why I said at the start of the match that I was going to take it easy on you. I can see now you can handle yourself, but... my first match here was one of my worst. You're a good kid, I didn't want that for you." Rachel's face was pretty red at this point, and making eye contact was difficult, but it did feel good to get that out of her system nonetheless.

Hayasui's found herself frowning at Rachel's explanation, now able to understand Rachel's attitude to some degree.

"It's okay," Hayasui said with a sigh, "Well, I suppose that's over now. It's good that you got that out of your system, though..."

She trailed off there, not entirely how to voice her next request.

"So...once you've rested up a bit..." Hayasui managed to get out, unable able to stop the hot blush spreading across her face like wildfire, "...wannagooutfordinner?"

Unable to take anymore, Hayasui looked down, suddenly very interested in her own feet.

Rachel couldn't help but let out another giggle at this girl's shyness. "Yeah! I'm starving! Er... yeah, that'd be good," she said again with a smile. After a moment passed, Rachel giggled again as another thought ran through her head. "You know... I'm technically you're 'slave' for the evening," she said coyly, bumping Hayasui with her elbow. "We don't exactly have to stop with dinner. After all, I have to do anything you tell me." She waggled her eyebrows for good measure, trying her hardest not to laugh.

"Slave?!" Hayasui shrilled, somehow going redder still, having zoned out through that part of the explanation as well, "No, no, I rather have you as a friend! Not a-"

Then the rest of Rachel's statement registered, the words bringing to mind many a feverish dream and whispers overheard at her school, and Hayasui stopped, completely and utterly. Her mind chose now to remind her that, in truth, Rachel wasn't all that hard on the eyes at all, and that she was rather soft to the touch, as Hayasui had learned not moments ago. And then there was the part of her that, to Hayasui's mortification, found that it didn't mind where Rachel was going with that train of thought.

Struggling with too many embarrassing emotions at once, Hayasui pouted at Rachel as her face went a possibly unhealthy shade of red.

"You're really mean," she declared, "You know that?"

"Tch," Rachel snickered, "I'm just getting you back a little bit." She had to admit, even though she was joking, that line of thought certainly wouldn't be a terrible way to end the night. "Anyway, dinner sounds great. Anything that comes after that is up to you, mistress," she teased.

Figuring she was being mean enough, Rachel pulled her out of the reclining chair. It was a struggle, and she was already starting to miss it as she got up, but she managed to stand on her own, and it was pretty clear that the ointment was doing it's job rather well, all things considered. "So then," she said with a bit of a sigh, "where are we headed?"