When Emi returned from Donzogakure, she wasn't really up for anything that didn't involve passing out on her bed. Visiting her mom's grave and her killer in jail was bound to leave her down, but meeting the shirotori meeting? That was way too much. She still didn't know how she survived that, and in the end she wasn't really sure if she wanted to know. Kiku asked her what was up, of course. The trip back was a lot less fun than the trip to Donzo. "Just tired, is all." She smiled, and while she wasn't sure whether the genin had bought it or not, he stopped asking. Great work, Emi. You were supposed to be the hero, you know? The always-smiling, fun-loving girl that helped everyone see the wonders of life. Not that tired, sad wreck.

She got home, not before stopping at the store and buying whatever alcoholic beverage she could find. Vodka, yes. Vodka was perfect. She sat down on her bed with a glass of vodka, thinking about all that had happened. And another glass. And another one. When she woke up, the last thing she remembered was crying and telling herself what a major pathetic failure she was. But she woke up fairly well. A minor headache, sure, but aside from that, the whole "I'm a failure" thing was gone. Sure, she took about 2 hours to get out of the bed. But she was better. Yeah. Ok, she needed to do something, and she new exactly what.

A quick shower, and then, for the day's outfit... gah, she didn't care. A white t-shirt, black pants, sneakers, black bracelets. As for the important part, the red choker and... the bowler hat. Why not? Finally, she got her flute and left the house. Destination? The gardens, of course. It was a calm and beautiful place. Maybe she'd even enter the hot springs later. But for now, she picked a nice tree to stand against and started playing her own version of "Amazing Grace".

Izumi took a leisurely walk through the gardens, looking out at the flowers, dressed in her usual black kimono, black shorts and t-shirt underneath. It was sunny, and the day was perfect, reminding her of the days she'd spent here in her youth. She'd been coming out to the gardens since she was little, though at her younger age it had been to play, and now it was mostly to relax in the sun, thinking about her latest mission or the events of the day. It was her favorite pass time.

Usually the garden was quiet, but today music provided a treat for her ears. She made towards the source slowly, not changing her pace at all. She wasn't all that worried about missing out on the change. If she recalled correctly, she had heard music in the gardens before, but she had ignored it, or been too comfy lazing around to investigate. Today, however, she was already on the move, so she figured she'd take the time to see who, or what, as the case might be, was making the music.

When she finally arrived, she found a girl with short, black hair playing on a flute. She was playing some sort of music that she had never heard before, or didn't remember, and was doing a pretty good job. She kept her distance so as not to disturb her, standing a little over a meter away from her. In the mean time, she would try to see if she could remember who she was. She looked over the girl in the mean time, hoping to see something to help identify her.

Emi played her flute, eyes closed, focusing on the melody. And what a beautiful melody it was. For a moment, her mind was clean, nothing on it but the song. A few improvisations upon the melody to break the standard routine a bit helped keep her mind busy. And then at some point along the song she opened her eyes, feeling like she was being watched. And then she saw her.

For some good five seconds, she stopped playing. Not because she stopped playing, but because she completely forgot the flute was even there. Meeting her eyes there was a girl, about her age, dressed in a black kimono. She... looked stunning. Maybe it was the kimono, I mean, kimonos look really cool and she really managed to make it work well. The lip piercing also added a nice touch to her already pretty face. In the end, the girl looked really good, and Emi found herself wondering how the hell she had never met her. She looked at the girl searching for a headband like the one she brought around her neck, but didn't find anything. Probably not a ninja, then.

And then Emi realized she had probably been quietly staring at the girl for more than 10 seconds now. She thought about continuing the song, but that would just make things more awkward. So she decided to strike up a conversation. "Oh, hi there! Like the music?" Smooth, Emi. Almost managed to make things less awkward.

Izumi smiled a bit, finding the girl's reaction a little amusing, if she found it a bit awkward to be stared at. "Yeah, I sort of did. It was pretty relaxing. Fits the gardens. What brings you here?" She stretched a bit, yawning. "On a break from a mission or something? It's what I'm here for. Day off." She sits her hands on her hips, rocking back and forth on her heels, looking a little bored, wondering what exactly caused the girl to stare at her for so long, reminding her that she didn't introduce herself. "Oh yeah, I'm Izumi. Fushoku Izumi." She holds out a hand for her to shake, trying to look friendly.

The girl smiled. It was a pretty smile. It was always good to see people smile... well, except in that guy's case. But forget about him. "What brings you here", the girl asked. Emi could clearly remember the last romantic movie she had seen where that line had been used to... oh, come on! Get your mind out of there, Emi! Ok, the girl was on her day off from a mission. So she was a ninja! That was interesting.

"Yeah, me too. Decided to take some time to relax. Well, some more time, heh." She smiled back to the kimono girl. She seemed a bit bored, and well, Emi couldn't blame her. In the end, the gardens weren't the most exciting place around, and with the music gone, all that was left was talking to a girl that was staring at her few seconds ago. That staring girl being Emi herself, of course. And then the girl introduced herself. Fushoku Izumi, eh? Emi shook her hand.

"That's a nice name! I'm Emi. Well, Fuusui Emi, but feel free to call me whatever you want." She kept smiling. She had been called a lot of nicknames already, and was always curious about what people would pick. Well, it was her turn to ask a question. So of course she had to automatically ask one of the questions that sounded the most like a pick-up line out of the available ones.

"So, um... come here often?"

Wow. Great job, Emi. Sometimes you wish your intentional flirting was as good as your accidental flirting.

Izumi laughed a bit, smiling. "Nothing wrong with spending some more time relaxing. Missions take so much effort, especially if there are fights. Phew, those are a pain, can't stand them." She brought her hand back to rest on her hips. She seemed more attentive now that Emi had begun to talk to her. She liked to chat.

She shrugged at her comment about calling her whatever she wanted. She was too lazy to come up with anything. "Emi is fine. Nothing quite like the name you were given, right? My parents would kill me if I wanted a different name. My dad especially." She smiles. "What about yours?"

In response to her question, she looks thoughtful for a moment. "Yeah, I guess I do come here often. I came here a lot when I was little, except I usually came here to play instead of relax. It's either here or the hot springs, anyway. I'm a frequenter of both."

"You can say that again. Got in a particularly tough one in the last mission." She took a deep breath. Yeah, guess that man's smile would keep haunting her for a while. Talking to people helped her relax, though. And it seemed she had found a buddy that enjoyed slacking off as much as she did. That was great. "Got some good money, though. Earned some rest." She chuckled, and smiled when she found out she was going to be called by her name. Nicknames were interesting, but hey, she liked her name.

She stopped for an instant when Izumi mentioned her parents, though. She'd shrug it off instantly in any other situation, but she had just came back from Donzo and, subsequently, from her mother's grave. She skipped a beat, but it was almost imperceptible. "My parents? Hm... well, don't think they'd care, really. But I like my name." She smiled.

Izumi asked her question normally. Good. Maybe she was overthinking things. Yeah, that was it. "Haha, guess I should come here more then." She said it. Damn it, Emi. WHY DID YOU HAVE TO GO AND SAY THAT. "I mean, it's a good place to relax. And the hot springs are also incredibly calming. And your smile is really pretty." Aaaaand she did it again. Well, it was a simple compliment. It wasn't bad, right? Right? In the end, she said it so casually one might wonder if she even knew what she was saying. She did say it with confidence, though.

"Anyways, want to request a song?" She smiled at the girl, trying to break the possible awkwardness that was left in the air with her previous comment.

"Yeah, the money is always good, isn't it? We are risking our lives. Well, sometimes anyway. Not every time. But the rest is always the best." She continued to smile. "What was your last mission? Anything good?" She still seemed pretty bright, apparently not aware that she was asking about a touchy subject.

"It'd be nice to see some more familiar faces around here. Maybe we should visit the hot springs together. It's a great place, perfect for spending the day there." She mused about spending the day there with a handful of friends and Emi, almost missing the comment about how her smile is really pretty. "Hm...? My smile? Thanks. I appreciate it."

After being asked if she wanted a song, she thought for a minute, then shook her head. "No thanks. I'd much rather talk to you, if you don't mind."

Izumi asked about the mission, which caused Emi to scratch the back of her head, a bit troubled. Well, she didn't keep secrets, and the girl wanted to hear the story. It's not like it even was a secret, anyways. She took a deep breath, and started.

"...It was supposed to be just a delivery job. Pretty simple thing." Another pause to breath, lowering her head and staring at the ground. "Ended up running into a guy in Donzo, though. Shirotori or something. Fuck, how do I even begin to describe him..." She turned towards the sky, a hand in her mouth. "The fucker killed a lot of academy students. Just... one explosion and boom, bunch of dead bodies. And he was immortal. I immobilized him, filled him with shurikens, and saw him get sliced right through the fucking lungs, and he was fine! Breathing, talking, walking, moving like nothing had happened!" Her hand went through her face, stopping at the forehead as she looked at Izumi. "And his body, there was no blood or meat or anything! It was just... a bunch of black threads! And, and... there were these three masked monsters, also made of the threads, and... fuck, I must be sounding like a total nutjob. I'm really sorry." She apologized, bowing a little, if only just lowering her head, staring on the ground again. "But whenever I remember that fucking smile, I just..." she crossed her arms in front of her, a hand in each shoulder. "...Shit. It's... it's hard to believe I'm even alive, you know? That I'm not dead and dreaming?"

At this point, Emi was already starting to cry, bringing a hand to her eyes to dry the tears. "I just... fuck, I shouldn't be crying. Sorry."

Izumi was a bit stunned. She'd heard stories of the Shirotori, and they sounded like a nightmare. She wasn't sure what it was like to meet one, much less fight one. "Wow.... That's... pretty awful." She stepped up next to her and gave her a hug, softly patting her back. "Hey.... It's okay... You don't sound crazy. I've heard stories about the Shirotori. They're something completely different, from what I hear. Aw gosh... Was it really that scary...?" She pulls her closer, rubbing her back comfortingly. "You're okay, right? He didn't hurt you right?" She looks a little worried, unsure about how the girl is feeling.

Yeah, she was crying. God damn it, Emi, crying in public? Seriously? And after all that, she probably ruined all her chances to befriend the girl. She wasn't supposed to act like that! She should keep smiling, crack jokes, make friends, stay upbeat, not turn in a nervous wreck and break down out of-

Izumi was hugging her.

...

It felt good.

"...I guess, yeah. I mean... I'm a ninja, I'm supposed to be ready for these things. But that... I never imagined I'd see anything like that. The guy was a monster." And then Izumi pulled her closer. That... was great. Emi couldn't help but hug back, holding onto the girl a bit. "I'm fine. I'm alive, right?" She smiled. Sure, Izumi couldn't see the smile because of the hug, but... well, the hug itself was one of the main reasons behind the smile. "Besides, I'm not all that frail, heh." She let go, allowing Izumi to end the hug.

"Next time I meet him, I'll be ready! With a confident smile, Emi slammed her knuckles together. And just like that, the tears were gone. "But yeah! We should totally hang out more. Oh, I know! Did you lunch already? 'Cause I didn't eat anything since I woke up, so I'm pretty hungry. Wanna join me? It's my treat!"