Like a House on Fire

Chizuru always figured Blade had a weak spot hiding around somewhere. She was used to all the footage of her acting big and bad for so long that the German girl had grown a serious rough-rider image for her. The long wander type that always stuck to their guns and chose the darkest seat in the bar. She had to wonder if Clint Eastwood would be as intimidating if he was a total mommy’s boy.

She was pretty proud of herself for that little discovery, even if she appeared rather nonchalant about it. Blade must have been pretty impressed by her expert skills of deduction too. She only closed her eyes, folded her arms, and nodded along as she ran down the whole list of things they were going to do together. It would be a pretty big lie to say she wasn’t looking forward to it all. Even now, the next step in her life had her heart fluttering in a million directions.

Then the tone shifted, in a way Chizuru wasn’t quite ready for. She opened her eyes to look at Blade, but at some point she lost the freedom to turn away along with the tightening grip around her neck. Droplets of sweat started to form on her temple to slide down the side of her cheek. She only stared back at the Okinawan as she drew closer, looming over with a shadow that only seemed to grow larger and longer with each word. In a matter of moments, Chizuru found herself standing ramrod stiff and wide in each eye at Blade’s intense, wordless gaze as the grim promises of a painful tomorrow finally weighed on her mind...only to break in the next instant and daylight filled the room again. The German-Suplex Girl returned to her house with hollow eyes, sealed lips, and arms pinned to her sides. Was she going to die?

Chizuru's mother could only smile along with the two of them. How lucky could her daughter be to have found someone so strong, yet so understanding and kind? Kinder than even she knew, from what it seemed. However, the serenity of Akiko's face was momentarily afflicted with wrinkles of confusion between her brows and a slight pucker to her lips. Her head canted to one side, as if some obvious truth had sailed clean over the Okinawan's head and left the air between them still as she crooked a brow at the curious girl.  “What are you talking about, Uehara-san? He’s right behind you.”

In fact, there was. Though to simply call the behemoth at her back someone’s “dad” may have been a vast understatement of the years of weather, struggle, and perseverance that defined the surging, bulky mass of refined muscle and long scars behind her. His silhouette towered several feet above her, shadowing the rays of daylight from the window and casting a long shade into the middle of the foyer. His nostrils flared and exhaled a rush of hot air that blew down against Blade’s upright black mane.

The moment Blade attempted so much as a curious glance over her shoulder would be the same instant a calloused, meaty grip would seize the entire circumference of her throat with one clamp. With zero resistance, the dense arm surging with veins of strength would lift Blade from the floor, leaving her feet dangling two feet above the floorboards. The only thing she would find when she looked down was a pair of strong, brown eyes between rough and hardy features; robust as a burning oak glaring up at her.

“You’re the one that hurt my Chi-Chi?” The profound tone of his voice flowed like liquid death from his breath. There was an unmistakable thickness to his German accent that wouldn’t be found anywhere else in this country.

Oh...this was going to be ever so much fun. It may not have dawned upon her suplexing roommate just yet, but one of the inherent benefits to having a co-worker as a roomie was that you had 24/7 access to a wrestling dummy perfectly suited to having hours of submission techniques practiced upon he/she. And no, that wasn't a subtle jab at Chizuru's mental faculties...but the grappling tradition made sense in the long run. If someone had an idea for a bitching new submission technique, you'd be better off applying it to a friendo who can gauge how agonizing it is while you yourself are obviously working on implementing the maneuver in the first place. Panther Risako used to apply some of the most heinous Boston Crabs Blade had ever experienced in her entire life back when they bunked as tag-team partners. The Okinawan still swearing to this day that she felt her toes graze the back of her head during one such submission training session...although Risako coyly insists to this day that Blade was just imagining things.

But Chizuru doesn't have any reason to worry. She'll be in the capable hands of good old Uehara~...a trained veteran whose wrestled all around the world and knows ways of inflicting limb disjointing torment the likes of which her new roomie could never fathom. But in a safe way, of course. Hell, by the time Blade's through with Chizuru, it'll take only the most bone crunching of submissions to make this little suplex machine ever tap out again. Blade figured they could start out with something simple, like a backbreaker very similar to the one Chizu subjected her to back in their match. The Okinawan rubbing her hands together as if she were ready to get this show on the road already, a self-satisfied smile brightening up her day now that she was starting to noodle up all the submissions in her repertoire. She just had to glad-hand Chizu's pops and be on her merry. Blade glancing all around the room after asking where the man of the house was and-

*...Did it just getting darker in here or is it me?...* A billowing nocturne pall eclipsed whatever sunshine could be found. Darkness consuming all remnants of daylight and heartfelt warmth that came from the hospitable homestead. Now only glacially chilled dread filled the room, or at least, Blade's side of it. She'd become frozen like an ice sculpture but somehow less mobile, goosebumps trailing all around her from the gust of air exhaled from behind her and practically wafting her hood onto her head before it fluttered back down. Minuscule dots became Blade's blinking eyes as she gulped down her reservations and summoned the bravery to begin...slooooowly...twisting around. A petrified action she'd regret in no time flat as she gawked up at the towering titan like a deer in headlights, but Blade apparently had a significantly smaller chance of walking away from this unscathed. A squeaking noise came from her neck being clamped, limbs dangling flaccidly in the German strongman's grip with stark-wide eyes, pursed lips, and arms drooping limply. Was she going to die?

"G...GrEEtings, KinD siR...yOU musT bE ChiZuru's doTing fatHer...mIGHt I sAy whAt a lOvelY houSe anD faMily yoU haVe hErE...*gack*..." Chortled coughs and strained breaths wasn't making Blade's sweet-talking any easier, her hands ushered up to clamp onto the massive mitt around her neck and lift herself a few inches up to give her some scant breathing room. She knew that saying nothing was the worse option. Gotta keep him talking...and maybe dissuade him from breaking her neck...or continue...depriving her...of air. "FuNNy yOU mentioNED tHAT...Mr. NagaharA...wE wErE actuaLLY juS talKin AbouT thaT...and hOw dEEply soRRy I waS...anD HoW wE aLL kinDA forgAve EacHoThEr...anD hOw we'Re All reaDY tO MOVe...On...witH...ouR liVeS..." Blade's eyes were fluttering...words...becoming harder...to formulate...

...oh…

...oh right!

Her dad swore vengeance on the Uehara name! That wasn’t good!

After their post-match heart to heart, Chizuru was too ecstatic and eager to give her parents the news to pay much attention to how they reacted. She already knew what to expect from her mother. Her full support practically doubled her enthusiasm for this long-awaited day. Chizu’s young mind was running wild with all the possibilities that could finally come to pass in this next chapter of her life.

Her father hadn’t been so receptive to the idea. He did that thing where he got silent and just suddenly stopped wanting to do things when Blade’s name came up. The entire time he was helping her back it was like he wasn’t entirely there. Chizuru thought maybe he just really needed to go to the bathroom for three weeks straight, but maybe it had something to do with the way he muttered ‘death’ under his breath over dinner. Now it was all becoming clear. Her father hadn’t batted an eyelash at the aerialist’s plea. Despite her thorough explanation of the situation the cold stare she received refused to wither. Unlike her.

“There is no forgiveness for anyone that hurts my daughter.” His grip tightened around her throat as he raised her even higher.

“D̰͖͚̩̝͓i̮̜͕̦̫̞e͚.”

Her mother covered her mouth with a hand, though she looked far from distraught. “Oh, dearest. We really can’t afford another hospital bill.”

“Dad! Wait!” Chizuru rushed up to his side. Her hands grabbed him by the shoulders, looking up at her father with pleading eyes. “It’s alright! I ran into her fist when she threw it! It’s not her fault at all!”

Her father’s hand grew tighter around her neck, somehow upping the pressure even further past the breaking point in the half-second his daughter finished speaking. That was the opposite of what she wanted. What was his deal?!

[“Vater! Vater!”] Chizuru called out in their native tongue. For the first time her father’s rage-filled eyes turned away from the spiky-haired target of his aggression to the angel at his arm. [“Sie ist meine liebste Freundin und eine Meisterschaftskämpferin. Ich kann so viel von ihr lernen, um besser zu sein als ich jetzt bin. Wenn du sie am Leben lässt, verspreche ich, dass ich nie wieder so verletzt werde. Ich verspreche es dir, Vater…”]

Her father remained silent with a face etched from terrible stone. Nevertheless, in those eyes she could see a bit of the familiar tenderness surface the longer he stared back at her. The grip around Blade’s throat hadn’t eased an inch.

Her mother came around to Chizuru’s side with the same serene smile that had been there since the beginning. ["Es ist ihre Freundin. Gib ihr eine Chance, Sebastian.”]

His eyes went from his daughter and wife to the termite he had caught by the palm of his hand. Time slowed to a crawl in this instant with a red haze flowing over and the Okinawan girl at its center. Muscles tense, veins flaring, the muscular arm keeping Blade several feet off the ground seemed poised to explode all on its own with the power coursing through its length to each finger.

All at once he released her and let fall in a heap to the floor. The hand that held her up stood for a moment only to fall with a single point of his finger straight at the gunmetal girl. “You will continue to live. Betray my daughter’s trust, and no longer. Is this understood?”

"Lookit Dad!!! This doggy followed me home!!! Can we keep him?! HuhHuhHuhCan we??!!"

*BARK!!!*

"S-Satoshi has a crush on ME?!?! You've gotta be kidding!!!"

"Ya know, Dad...I think I might sign up for the school wrestling team and..."

"So whaddya say Risako? Hows about you and I form a tag-team and..."

"Well, If I were you I would start to worry, Chizu. Because I'm about to..."

"...never fear Chizu ol'girl, cause it looks like today's your lucky day~..."

"So come on...buck up, today's a happy day, alright?..."

Ah well. Blade figured she lived a fulfilled life. One she could at least look back on with no regrets. Like, literally. The Okinawan could now say without a shadow of a doubt that the whole life flashing before your life myth was undeniably truthful. Fractured images all came flooding in once all of her scratching and squirming did zilcho to alleviate the German titan's oxygen depriving clamp on her airway. She'd plum forgotten all about her childhood canine companion Moshi~...her father allowing the dog's adoption after routine health checks and provided she take responsibility for him. The stalwart hound eventually becoming a cherished part of the family and the official mascot of her Dad's construction team. And then there was the first time a boy had a crush on her...that time she finally settled on the profession she'd eventually become enamored with...that time she finally made peace with Risako and formed one of the best tag-teams in Wrestle Angels...and all the times she's spoken with Chizu. Who looked like an auburn haired angel~...or maybe this was just from a lack of oxygen being circulated throughout her brain, which tends to cause hallucinations. Regardless...Blade was starting to feel light-headed here. Eyes beginning to flutter closed with a sagging limpness to her dangling limbs. Mouth agape with chortled gagging and a creeping darkness blotting out the light in the roo-

Blade felt like she'd just been yanked off of the brink in one sudden plummet onto her legs before collapsing down on her butt, seated up and savagely coughing up a storm while hungrily inhaling that oh so precious oxygen. A hand holding her sore neck as her face started regaining it's color, peeking one eye open at the towering Father figure whose pointed index finger caused Blade to scoot backwards until her back hit the kitchen counter cabinets. The massive finger pressing down on her nose and giving her a nasally inflection to her terrified response. "OH YEAH YEAH...T-T-T-TOTALLY UNDERSTAND...D-D-DON'T YOU WORRY ONE IOTA.  H-HAVE I ALREADY MENTIONED WHAT A LOVELY HOME YOU HAVE HERE???~..." Blade laughed squeamishly while in full retreat mode, crawling backwards across the kitchen but in the general vicinity of the house's front door. Besides which she noticed the boxes Chizuru mentioned having been stacked, and being a sight for sore eyes. "Hey would you like at the time~..." Blade asked without ever looking at the time. "Chizu and I better hit the road before traffic starts to pile up and the weather gets bad what with the rain, sleet, and snow scheduled for the rest of the day~..." She opened the front door to reveal the beaming sunlight with nary a storm cloud in the morning sky. Heaving upon her hands two of the boxes, chuckling nervously while still in backwards walking retreat. "It's been a delight meeting you, Mrs. and...*gulp*...Mr., Nagahara. Imma just go now and meet you in the car, Chizu...HaHaHa..."

A considerable amount of steam bellowed forth from her father's nostrils in a thick dispersing cloud over Blade's scruffy mane. With those last words, every inch of pent up malice seemed to have deflated for the moment. Relief washed over Chizuru in a cooling wave all at once, lightening weight in her shoulders that she hadn't even realized was there until she finally saw Blade stand. Alive and well. Kind of.

Before the Suplex girl could say anything to her new roommate, the woman with messy hair and beady eyes had already zipped across the room and zipped back with the last of her luggage. Chizuru only watched from her father's side with a blank stare as Blade quickly disappeared out of the doorway. Maybe now wasn't a good time to bring up Thanksgiving dinner. "O-okay. Be right there!"

When she turned to her side her arms were already open and eagerly awaiting her father’s embrace. As his daughter leaped up to meet him, Sebastian turned and smiled into her cheek, closing his eyes as the smell of her hair filled his heart with a tingling warmth. Chizuru could feel the ease that overtook him as she pushed further into the gentle embrace between his rough arms. If only Blade had been here to see this part. [“If she calls you ‘Chizu’ one more time around me, I will crush her head.”]

Or maybe not. Feeling her feet meet the ground again, Chizuru took a step back with two balled hands at her hips and a pair of pouty cheeks, looking up at her father’s stoic expression that had returned almost immediately. “Come on, Dad. She’s not that bad! This is why the neighbors keep talking about you.”

A tender hand graced her shoulder. Chizuru looked over her shoulder to her mother, who looked at her with such sullen eyes. Akiko felt herself reminiscing at the sight. It was remarkable how fast children grew when no one was watching. She reached out and pressed her lips to her daughter's forehead. “Be good, Chizuru. You two have fun and remember to call if you ever need anything. Anything at all.”

"I will! Thanks, mom! Bye, dad! I’ll call you when we’re all unpacked and everything, okay? Love you!" Chizuru smiled and waved back as she hurried out through the door and quickly closed it behind her. When it finally slammed shut, a refreshing moment of quiet seemed to sweep over the front of the house. Chizuru closed her eyes and let out a long, refreshing breath that she’d been clinging to for far longer than she’d realized. Her head pressed to the solid oak of the house, breathing in that burnt smell that had been with her for entire life. Pushing away from the wall, she looked at the oak once more, catching a glimpse of that chip in the bottom frame her baseball made

"Hey! Are you okay? I'm really sorry about all of that. My dad can be sooo embarrassing sometimes.” After a few more steps she finally felt her back hit the car. She reached out to take the boxes from Blade, freeing up her hands to open the trunk. “You know, I think he really likes you deep down! He’s probably just nervous is all."

*KEYSKEYSKEYS*

To think. Blade was initially worried that HER father was going to come off as a little rough around the edges. She certainly couldn't have seen this coming. But what other explanation could there have been for Chizuru being as sugary sweet as homemade apple pie, but as unnaturally strong as a stubborn weight-lifter with questionable morals in regards to performance enhancing drugs...Blade never was great at similes. But she always had a knack for knowing when to retreat for dear life. Not an option she was particularly proud of, and was practically antithetical to her die-hard and scrappy nature. But witnessing one's life flash through their eyes while gasping on their last breaths can tend to rearrange one's immediate priorities quick fast and in a hurry.

Already having scurried down the walkway and only stopping once at the trunk of her SUV, Blade started scuffling through one of her pants pockets with her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth. She was 60% sure she'd unintentionally snatched an extra box that wasn't part of the bundle of moving boxes. And if she'd stopped to witness what she was doing in her panic-stricken fumbling, Blade would realize that she's demonstrating some substantial strength on her own part by balancing all of those boxes on one arm. Adrenaline driven though it was. The Okinawan at first fearfully jumping back when she'd felt someone relieve her of her burden, but regained her composure once seeing it was only the second most threatening member of Nagahara family. Breathing out a sigh of relief while popping open her trunk with a beep of a button on her key chain.

"...Embarrassing?...EMBARRASSING, CHIZ-?!" Blade stopped herself mid-sentence and immediately lowered the tone of her voice to a fuming whisper in fear of the sound of her indignation traveling back towards that dreaded house. "Embarrassing???!!!...Chizuru...your Father was strangling me at what felt like almost two solid feet off the ground!!! He threatened my life towards the end!!! I HEARD HIM SAY DIE...oh well, you know...that's I heard before I started blacking out from lack of oxygen!!!" Blade's distinctly nettled badgering continued onward as she slammed the trunk door shut after Chizuru had finished loading everything up. She grimaced bitterly while trudging around the car and into the driver's seat, strapping on her seatbelt with several savage's tugs before finally getting it to stretch outward so she could finally insert the stupid belt into the stupid clip.

But once settled in...Blade took a deeeeeep breathe and settled back into her chair, pinching the bridge of her nose not letting her frustrations get the better of her. "....*sigh*...Chizuru, why didn't you tell me about your Dad? The dude is seriously jacked, could put most of the guys in the Tension locker room to shame, and now apparently wants to see me become a literal wrestle angel for putting her on his little princess." Blade glanced over at her future roommate with a sincere look after having collected herself . "Ya coulda at least warned me ya know? What is he? Like a former professional weight lifter or something?"

Why? Why in a million years would she ever expect Blade to just act as nothing happened?

Chizuru could just about remember the times when her father wasn't so protective. It was hard at times, but she could see them clearly. It wasn't so bad growing up. At first, she was just the little girl that could lift the schoolyard bully over her head and dump him butt-first in the sandpit. But then she got older, and people changed, and all of a sudden she was the new, half-foreign girl in the class with dumb hobbies. She could see where he was coming from sometimes. It wasn't like he hated Japan or anyone in this city. He loved it here. So did Chizuru. She always did. But people always changed. They judge, they criticize...they leave...

Unlike what her ex-friends and past admirers may have thought the first time she had to introduce them to the family, Chizuru could see better than anyone the immensely damaging potential a fatherly attitude like that could have. She'd just gotten so used to keeping her personal life at an arm's length. It was fine letting Chizuru Nagahara the Wrestler be the voice of Chizuru Nagahara the Person...until now, she had to guess.

The German girl watched silently as her friend loaded the last of her luggage away. A clear worry was starting to form on her face as she anxiously followed around the side of the car and stepped into the passenger seat. When she shut the door behind her, Chizuru knew she was leaving herself in fate’s hands. She didn’t have anything to say to Blade, not at that moment. All she could feel was a tight pain in her chest and a pit in her stomach. She could already see the red lines starting to strain on her neck. Chizuru wanted to disappear the second she saw them. Was she just going to lose another friend? Again?

“No! No, he’s not! He’s just...just really likes protein shakes and vegetables and…!” Chizuru closed her eyes. She had to stop herself at least once and get her head straight. For once in her life, could she not sound like a complete idiot? There was only one way to find out. She breathed deep and sighed.

“I’m sorry, Blade. I was just...just really scared to tell you the truth, I guess. I really didn’t think he would put his hands on you like that. I thought if I warned you or said the wrong thing you wouldn’t want to be roommates anymore. I wouldn’t be mad at you, I get it. I just wanted us to still be friends.” She creased the leather as she leaned back into the seat. Her hand reached up to scratch the side of her head as she looked to the gruff Okinawan.

“This is the first time we...well, it’s not like we really talked or anything when we were in Wrestle Angels. Why would you wanna put up with any of that? It’s not like I’m worth the trouble.” The Suplex Angel chuckled behind a smile that couldn’t have been more awkward if she tried. As hard she tried, a hint of gloom couldn’t help but stain that normally saccharine laughter.

Now Blade wasn't "angry" per se...wellalrightearliershewasabsolutelylivid...but she felt her indignation was well deserved considering she'd just gone from warm cookies and milk from Chizuru's mom to getting throttled by hands that felt like Andre The Giant's and by a mountain of a man who had a comparable size to that mythic figure as well. Life's thrown her curveballs before, but few had the potential to nearly outright end hers. Having befriended, commiserated and lived around jacked construction workers all of her life,(something she wouldn't grow to appreciate until her pre-teen years but that's a story for another time), you'd think Blade would have become accustomed to seeing burly dudes who could juggle her about in the air...but this guy. SHEESH.

Luckily Blade settled herself down by the time she started asking some probing questions. And was therefore able to pay fastidious attention to Chizuru's answers and the way with which she conveyed them. Imparting a morose and practically guilt-ridden tone that had her regretting almost the entire situation. Apparently Blade wasn't the first friend of hers sent running for the hills after meeting her Father and probably having similarly life-threatening encounters. The odd dichotomy wasn't lost on Blade...someone as fearsomely strong as Chizuru having such a fragile and fearful nature at times. Especially when it came to thoughts of abandonment, seclusion, isolation. It all did make her ponder a certain memory of hers as she breathed calmly through her nose and sat back in her driver's side chair.

"...Hitoshi Hamasaki." Blade uttered under her breath as if in blissful reverie, opening her half-lidded eyes and turning towards Chizuru to explain herself. Maybe it was time for that aforementioned story after all. "OH, you wouldn't know him. Back when I was fifteen I had a bit of a schoolgirl crush on this guy who used to work at my Dad's quarry. He was friendly, outgoing, always smiled when he saw me, he had these dimples, and had this tight little bu-...*cough*...a-anyway, once my Dad caught me swooning at him once he overworked the poor guy and kept getting on his case over the littlest things. Eventually he had to quit altogether and I never saw him again. MAN, was I pissed at my Dad. But in retrospect I guess he was just trying to protect me, and wasn't at all ready for the notion that one day I'll have to spread my wings and fly outta the nest..." Blade sighed with a smile, internally making a note to call her Dad and check up on him. See how he was doing.

"I guess we can't pick our family...BUT, we can pick our friends. And you've got one here who ain't going anywhere, alright?" A reaffirming hand would be placed on Chizuru's shoulder, holding tightly with a heartwarming smile before jostling it somewhat to try and lighten the mood a little. "Welp, we had our first argument. I'd say that OFFICIALLY makes us roomies. Come on, let's get this day back on track. Time to wave goodbye to your old digs, Chizu..." The ignition would turn the car on with AC/DC once again playing, Blade beginning to get her seatbelt on before beginning to pull out of her parking spot. "You know...I'm thinking with some time, I bet your Pops will warm right up to me~..." Unbeknownst to Blade, what could be mistaken as a red light bead from a sniper rifle was beginning to glimmer from a window of Chizu's house and towards the driver's side area...

This was the end of their friendship.

It wasn't like Chizuru was unfamiliar with the feeling. She grew up an outlier and would probably stay that way for the rest of her life. People like her didn’t find relationships as easily as everyone else. She'd just figured that if she embraced that oddness, dealt with it more smartly, that she could mitigate the risks. Control the chaos. Now it was going to cost her someone else.

So stupid…

Chizuru let out a slight gasp when the voice next to her abruptly broke the silence. It only struck her at that moment just how little she knew about Blade. She was a wrestling veteran, she had no problem taking on people twice her size, and nobody could say for sure whether she just had a bedhead or a very particular barber. In the few words she spoke, Chizuru could see beneath the gruff exterior of the blossoming girl that used to be. The stories from her childhood weren’t far away from her own. Shadowed by her father’s unending adoration and a yearning to roam free from the comforting, smothering embrace of their beloved guardians. She was so absorbed in the flyer’s thoughts that she didn’t notice the sobering smile on Blade’s face until a moment after. The German girl looked to her with a trembling lip, unsure of what to say. What she could do.

Except for smile. A big, long smile brightened along with the color of her cheeks and the auburn of her hair. ‘Worth the trouble’, she’d just said. It was stupid, with the benefit of hindsight. Did she honestly think that Blade Uehara, of all people, would turn her back when it became too hard to bear?

“I think so too! And if he doesn’t...well, he’ll have to answer to me!” The plucky German girl finished with a reaffirming nod to her new roommate before she grabbed her seat belt and buckled in. She looked out the window as the car began to move. She watched once again as her home slowly moved away from them and disappeared into glimpses of the rearview mirror. The dinners with her parents. The birthday surprises every morning. The sound of her mother’s piano while she sat on her lap in the midday sunlight. And...a laser pointer? It faded before she could properly look at where it came from. Chizuru narrowed her eyes and shrugged.

Huh. Maybe Rika was letting little Kirie play with her cartography set aga-

“Oh! Is this ABCD?” Chizu perked up and messed with the knob as their vehicle moved down the street and slowly shrunk from sight. “Rei was actually a really big fan back in the day. She went through this whole phase and put posters all over our apartment with...”


...

Chizuru breathed in deep and set down the last tower of boxes with a solid thump against the sturdy hardwood floor. She stood up and stretched her back out, breathing out a long sigh of relief with her arms extended high into the air. Around her sat several towers just as high around the front living space. Blade’s apartment was pretty spacious at first glance, even if the view was currently obstructed by several tons of cardboard and old manga she would have to get around to recycling one of these days. Chizuru didn’t even want to think about starting to unpack everything. Her arms lowered to her her hips as she turned back towards the door and called out.

“I think you have the last of it! Need any help?” She called out.

That was most definitely record timing. With Panther Risako, Blade's last roommate from a lifetime ago, it had taken her about six whole months before Blade had begun divulging heartfelt memories or intimate knowledge involving schoolgirl crushes to her roomie. Call it her guarded nature, predilection towards self-reliance, or just wanting to doubly make sure Risako wasn't the type to go blabbing about her personal secrets to the other W.A.'s in the locker room. Luckily threats of getting a steel chair in the back were enough to make sure Panther remembered the old adage about loose lips...but here was Blade. Letting Chizuru in on some deeply buried factoid about her life involving teenage puppy love that she would just DIE of embarrassment if word ever got out, and the pair weren't even officially under the same roof just yet. Blade caught herself in mid-U-turn acknolwdging this odd departure from her usual behavior.

Well, she supposed it just had to do with not wanting to see that fake smile of Chizuru's ever again...or mention that she wasn't worth the trouble. Blade was never going to have any of that as long as they were together...a-as roommates, of course. Besides, if someone as beautiful, cheerful and outright radiant as Chizuru started feeling down on herself, what chance did a scruffy-haired tomboy/daughter of a construction foreman have for happiness? Well, regardless, it seemed to do the trick. As Chizu's wholesome smile seemed to brighten up the whole day once again as they bid farewell to old beginnings and drove onward toward newer ventures to the tune of ABCD...Blade didn't have the heart to correct her just yet since it'd spoil the mood. But Blade did balk from overhearing what Chizuru said about Rei's rock and roll phase with posters and such, the Okinawan scratching the side of her cheek with an anxious smile of her own. "O-Oh, yeah don't say? Well, uh..."

Welcome Home~...:

"...Nah,Nah...*pant*...I'm alright...*pant*...Phew, one of these days you gotta tell me where you're hiding all that strength of yours, sheesh..." Blade huffed out while propping her arm atop her own tower of boxes just then settled down on the hard wood floor. She wasn't kidding, the suplexing savant having hauled close to twice her roommate's workload and not appearing anywhere near as winded. She might need to revamp her weight-lifting regiment. Something that maybe her new roomie could help out with when they get around to training together. "N-Now I know it's not quite as luxurious and cozy as your old house, and I...oh whoops, sorry. Forgot to clean this..." Blade hurriedly stepped forward and picked up her breakfast plate and placed it in the sink, bobbing around those old manga piles she kept putting off organizing. Afterward starting a slapdash attempt at sprucing up the place by fluffing up the couch pillows, opening up some windows to air everything out, and slyly attempt to kick dirty socks behind the couch. "B-But the bedrooms are super spacious, ya got your own T.V., and I even put a little mini-fridge in there...oh, and you won't have to worry about any siblings or parents popping into your room unannounced, heh...yeah, SO...whaddya think?" Blade hesitantly asked while timidly smiling, rubbing the side of her other arm as she waited to here Chizu's appraisal of the disordered confines of her home sweet home.