The Lady and the Ladies' Man

Cassie didn't respond. Once the doors opened she took off for the glass in the direction that Mamouru had pointed.

"Wow." She said. "It's the whole city! And mountains..." Cassie loved mountains, if for no other reason than she never really got to see any up close. She put her hands on the railing in front of the window and leaned out over it, and in the process got a glimpse of the ground below. She leapt back with a high pitched squeak, as though she'd only just noticed how high up they were. She gave Mamouru a wide eyed look, and then turned back to the window.

"Hey." She said, and pawed at one of the large binoculars that overlooked the city. "Come find your house, I wanna see."

The thought had occurred to Cassie that this was a place that Mamouru might take a girl that he was trying to catch. She didn't bother worrying about it, though. What was there to worry about?

Mamouru smiled at Cassie's youthful enthusiasm. "Yes, Japan certainly has a lot of beautiful geographic features." He quipped. He never really looked too much but he really did like all of the landscapes of Japan, he just found it easier to view them through an ukiyo-e painting or something of the sort.

He chuckled softly as Cassie went to the telescope. "It's going to be hard to find it int he dark but... um..." He stepped towards the lenses and looked around for it after scoping it out from the window to try and find the general neighborhood.

After finding what he thought was it, he stepped away, holding the telescope's position. "I think that's it..." He said bringing his hand up and putting it on Cassie's back to guide her to the telescope. "Why are you so interested in seeing it anyway, Cassie-san?" He asked with a curious tone.

Cassie peered through the thingamabob and looked around the area that Mamouru lived. Really, she didn't know why she wanted to see it. She just wanted to. She felt more connected to Mamouru that way.

She took a step back and shrugged. "I dunno. I just wanted to. The lights are pretty."

She felt a little awkward and shifted from foot to foot. She looked up at Mamouru for a moment, and then took off again for the window and began reading the little signs that indicated various landmarks to be seen. Being up here at night would be a romantic spot, if she weren't with the world's least romantic boy. It was weird. She grabbed a thingamabob and looked off in the distance at the faint silhouettes of the mountains.

Mamouru looked out into the open glass and down at the lights of Kyoto. Thee weren't as many as Tokyo and so it looked a little different. The sparseness sort of made it feel like they were dancing along the backdrop of the mountains. He watched as Cassie peered through the binoculars and smiled. "Yes." He said casually and when she pulled away and looked at him, Mamouru offered her a warm smile before she darted off again. He hadn't been trying to woo her, this was just seemed like a place that was both close and neat and he watched her as she skipped around and looked through another telescope.

He casually walked over to her and looked at her as she peered through it. "Cassie-san." He said in a soft tone. "Are you still worried about me or something?' He asked. "I didn't bring you up here because I thought you'd swoon over it or something..." He let it go for now and stepped away from her, listening if she responded but making his way over to one of the games they had around and looking at the flashing lights.

Cassie laughed, partly out of nervousness. It was sort of a complicated question. She didn't really have any expectations for the evening, it was better that way, but before they left there was certainly a part of her that wouldn't have minded it being a date. The recent developments with her escort had somewhat lessened the appeal or the likelihood of that. Cassie wasn't the kind of girl that guys like that went after, anyway, so she had nothing to worry about.

"Well, no, I'm not worried about anything. I guess we sort of talked about how you, er... Doesn't matter. I'm glad we're here. And I'm glad your not just trying to use me. I don't think I'm much use, anyway." She laughed. "I'm not that kinda girl, eh?"

The silence that followed was somehow crushingly awkward, at least to her. She didn't know what to do. "Sorry." She said, her Canadian accent particularly noticeable. She didn't know why she said it, so she moved on. "What should we talk about? Um... Well," She held out her hand to him and smiled. "I don't care if we don't talk at all, but I liked holding your hand. I'm happy just watching the city lights with my new friend."

Mamouru listened to Cassie's words and smiled, turning his head a bit. "Cassie-san..." He mused. "Not much use? Ridiculous." He ten looked at her and laughed along with her. "It seems as if my initial assessment was right. That sort of thing... isn't suited for a girl like you." He then turned his head and looked out a window. He didn't mind the silence really.

"Huh?" He said almost pulled out of a slight daze. He then smiled at her. "Yeah. It doesn't matter. It doesn't need to be filled with anything. He reached out to take her hand with his opposite one and circled around her from behind.

'Uh..." He said and blushed."Yes, me as well." He added with a soft nod. "Just... tell me if it's too much... ok? I'll stop." He said with a hesitant tone as he pushed his chest lightly against her back and took her other hand in his and pressed their hands up against her stomach so they could look at the nights sky and city lights together.

"That's okay." Cassie said. She leaned back against Mamouru and closed her eyes. Being away from home, she never realized just how much physical affection she was missing. Something as simple as a hug was much rarer here in Japan, though she gave many she received few. She was perfectly content to stay there snuggled up with Mamouru indefinitely, and she didn't bother to open her eyes for the view.

"You're doing a good job, Mr Protector. I feel safe." She said and laughed softly. She thought for a moment, then added "Mamouru? I hope you find the girl. The one you don't get bored of. And I hope you're not too dumb to know her when you see her." She sighed. "You're a nice guy. Someone will figure that out, and I hope you will too. It'll be okay."

Mamouru was glad that Cassie didn't shy away from the hug. It felt good. Cassie was naturally a warm person and that transfered to Mamouru. He felt good, relaxed. Something he considered as the two silently stood in front of the large glass panes, that he didn't often eel. Sure he was cool and calm, that was his personality. But he was never all that relaxed.

"Thanks... Cassie-san." He said and blushed and turned his head. He let out a soft sigh before turning back and resting the tip of his chin gently on the top of her head, easy as it was to to and then began to laugh a little. "You seem to be just the right height to make the perfect head rest." He said and extended a finger and nudged her stomach playfully.

He then stepped back and turned Cassie around to faced him, holding onto her hands but keeping some distance. He looked into her eyes and smiled. "I'm not that nice." He said and turned his head. "It must just be you..." He let the words trail off before he looked back to Cassie. "But... I do too, Cassie-san." He looked her up and down for a moment and then looked past her out the window. "It's getting a little late. Would you like me to talk you home? I should probably get back to my place anyway. Just in time to make it extra embarrassing for Taylor-san and Johnny-kun." He then laughed. Of course he wasn't going to go home tonight but the thought of breaking up their little party was at least worth joking about.

"That'd be a long walk." Cassie said. "Since I live in Tokyo. Shouldn't the AFW have accommodations or something for traveling employees? Do they? It'd certainly make everything easier. I'm not sure what Taylor's plan was, but she might've just been hoping to stay with Johnny. She doesn't really plan ahead. I was planning on just finding the nearest little hotel... Those two are too cute. Don't you think?"

Cassie found that she'd blushed a bit. She could take a compliment, but she didn't know what to do when it felt like the person meant it. She tucked her chin down and smiled sheepishly, and then tightened her grip on one of Mamouru's hands and released the other.

"C'mon. You can help me find a hotel. The one I stayed in last time I was here wasn't... it was the only one I could find. Heh." The awkwardness of staying the night with her friends in a hotel intended for one night stands was enough to motivate her to find a good hotel to stay in when she visited Kyoto. "Well I don't know what your house is like, but if you don't want to disturb Taylor and Johnny you can sleep in my room. I'll sleep on the floor, or maybe I'll make a nest in the tub. Wait, there's probably not a tub. Hm. Well, I can sleep on the floor, still, if you want a place to stay. There aren't enough places to sleep between all of us and these two cities. It's complicated."

Mamouru chuckled at Cassie's words. "Well I meant..." He trailed off and thought about what she said. "I suppose that they do. I never checked but I figured your hotel... Yeah... I figured they'd bunk together. I wasn't really expecting to go back home tonight." He then looked down at Cassie and then turned his head and blushed. "Um... don't take that the wrong way... I was just going to find somewhere to bunk at some hotel or AFW or someplace."

Mamouru smiled at Cassie as she cutely blushed. He smiled brightly. She was pretty cute normally, but sometimes she could definitely ramp it up.

Mamouru felt her grip tighten and her begin to talk about a hotel and them staying together. He was honestly surprised by that and his eyes were widened as he looked at her. Even if she said that she wanted to sleep in the bath tub which he didn't understand. He then smiled a little sheepishly at Cassie and pointed down. "Um... Cassie-san?" He said and tilted his head. "We are sort of standing on top of a hotel you know? Why don't we just stay here? I mean... it might be a little expensive but that match will give a nice little bonus. I can't think of a better way to splurge a little and... you don't really need to sleep in the tub or the floor. I'm sure I can get an extra bed so you can sleep on the bed."