Laura
*Arthur had felt eyes on him the moment he stepped out of the door, into the main room of the restaurant. When he walked over to his seat, he could hear whispers and jeers made towards his direction, his ears moving slightly as people dropped their forks and spoons as to directly point him out into the open. To be quite honest, he wasn't really used to all of this; the only time he ever faced something similar was when he did some quests for New Sunlight, in which he came back with blood spattered across his armor and clothes, but now people were jeering him simply for just... Walking into a bathroom? In his opinion, it was quite stupid, and made him quite a but uncomfortable.*

*As he got his glass of water, he glanced back towards where that water macen from earlier had sat with that brown haired kitsune girl prior to his massive dump in the toilet. He couldn't see her eyes, nor her face, but that hat looked strikingly familiar. It was uncanny how similar it looked to Hitoshi's... Wait. Wait, wait wait wait wait. His eyes widened slightly as he turned a full 180 degrees to look at Hitoshi and Zed's table. Putting his glass back down onto the table, he strode on over to where they were sitting, and stared Hitoshi down with a menacing look in his eye.*

"That hat. That belonged to my friend. Mind telling me where you got that from? I'm **VERY** Interested."
James
"Well, you see, my friend..."

*He grabs the top of Hitoshi's hat, and tilts it up, quickly. He wants to see what interactions occur between the two, if they know each other or not.*

"I feel like you two may know each other."
Laura
*Arthur caught a glimpse of a young woman's face beneath Hitoshi's hat. If he were to put it simply, she was actually quite beautiful; it reminded him a lot of other people he had seen throughout his travels. Though, there was something about those eyes, something about her face, and something about her... Overall demeanor that just seemed all too familiar. When he was in her presence, he felt that he sort of belonged there, like they were pals or buddies that had just finished a round of drinks; you don't just separate and walk home, you laugh and talk and converse on the way to the infinite expanse of the night. That was the sort of feeling and vibe he got from this woman; the feeling that she was someone he could hang out with comfortably, someone that he could fight alongside. It reminded him a lot of Mevis when he was still a part of New Sunlight, or even Hitoshi, to an extent. Hell, her features reminded him a lot of his friend! Odd, but hey - he read somewhere that every person in the world had a double, or a doppelganger, that looked extremely similar to each other. Perhaps this was just one of them. In any case, he had to take Hitoshi's hat back, and return it to the man when he saw him next!*

*Glancing towards Zed, and back to Hitoshi, his eyes would lose their menacing glare and be replaced with various hints of skepticism. Why was the water macen acting so friendly? Who was this woman who he felt all too familiar with? Why hadn't he paid the tab for his water? All questions that needed various answers... But now was not the time. He needed to find out who these people were. Ideas racking through his brain, trying to figure out the best way to go about this ordeal, Arthur finally relaxed a tiny bit, though still kept his body on pins and needles. Opening his mouth, he looked down at Hitoshi, whose hat had returned to it's state whence it had covered her face before.*

"I don't believe we've met before. Though, I do know one thing. That hat isn't yours. It belongs to a dear friend of mine, and I'd appreciate it if you were to hand it back."
Kevin
*You have to be fucking joking.

There isn't really any way Hitoshi can weasel her way out of this humiliation, is there? **Great...**

Arthur's taking his goddamn sweet time figuring out what's happened, and even Zed's obvious hints aren't doing it... Maybe it's time to just say it.

Hitoshi completely forgets about her piggybacked meal for a bit and buries her face in her hands, like an ostrich buries its head in the sand when it meets something frightening, and groans for about 5 solid seconds, dreading this moment... **So much.**

When Hitoshi says her next line of dialogue, it's less "Speaking" And more "Squeaking", like a child admitting to have been doing something wrong to their parents.*

"...*Iamthatfriendyoutalkabout.*"

*Face still buried in the hands, practically clawing her eyes out.*
James
"Ah! So you do know each other. Would you mind giving me your name, sir, and how you met? I'm quite curious of how you two came to know each other."

*He's curious now, as to how these two met each other. He lifts his hand off of Hitoshi's hat, and studies the two. The pale Kitsune hasn't quite figured it out yet, and poor Hitoshi has to break the news to her friend. Wait. The Kitsune's extremely pale. Is he a vampire? Maybe that's why he ran so fast to the restroom. He wonders what kind of magic he has, Kitsune being magical and all. Looking back to Hitoshi, it's obvious that she's embarrassed, rightfully so. He continues to eat his sandwich. It's pretty good.*
Laura
*Arthur watched while the brown haired kitsune girl put her face to her hands, groaning in a sort of humiliated sense for some odd, unknown reason. He had no idea why she was doing something like this, but for a second, he heard her whisper something along the lines of... Something about a friend. He really couldn't hear all of it, due to the incessant chattering and clanking of the restaurant's interior, but he sort of got the gist of what happened. Apparently, this girl was an acquaintance to Hitoshi; maybe even his sister, judging by her looks. He relaxed a good bit, knowing that she wasn't just some thief that had jumped his friend somewhere, stealing his hat. Though, it was rather odd; why would Hitoshi give up not only his hat, but his entire set of armor, to this one girl? Pieces of a large, unusual puzzle began filling up Arthur's mind, the numerous parts becoming jumbled and scattered within his thoughts. Eventually, he couldn't really think too hard anymore without his brain hurting from over-exertion, so he looked down towards the two as the water macen spoke about them knowing eachother.

His name? Why would he tell this guy his name? If he were a bounty hunter, then giving the man his name would spell doom for the restaurant, and the people within. A fight would obviously break out in the building, which would lead to a lot of collateral damage. He really didn't want to be put through that kind of uneeded stress, but nonetheless, a sliver of his mind took control of his conscious thought; the part that was too trusting and naïve. Leaning down into the table, so that no one around could hear him, he told the two who he was.*

"Name's Arthur. Arthur Dax. And you people are...?"
James
*Zed would also whisper, making sure to reduce his volume*

"Ah! I think I've seen you before, on a poster. Don't worry, I'm not a bounty hunter. I'm only a mere farmer! This here, if you haven't figured it out already, is Hitoshi. We're old acquaintances. Come! Sit with us!"

*He patted Hitoshi on the back as he revealed her, and scooted over so that Arthur would have a seat. Another criminal? Interesting. Zed didn't plan to hunt him down though. He seemed strong, and Zed's magic wasn't the best right now.*

"My name is Zed. Zed Usan."
Kevin
*A pained groan escapes the woman's mouth. Took Arthur long enough... And Zed had to basically beat Arthur over the head with it.

Lovely. She continues to act mortified, and says nothing about Zed's "Farmer" Business. After all, Zed is still a member of Hitoshi's old brotherhood, and nothing breaks that mentality. Obviously, Hitoshi whispers too.*

"*Sigh.* Yep. I am Hitoshi. Nice to see you again, Arthur."

*Mevis would probably be pissed if he knew Hitoshi completely ignored Arthur's bounty. But it's still Hitoshi's friend. Hitoshi couldn't do that to his friend. Even if Hitoshi **Was** Much more powerful than Arthur, he couldn't do it.

Sure, a Macen might stay in jail for a relatively short amount of time. But a Kitsune? Who's to say Arthur wouldn't be locked up for centuries? Who's to say they won't execute him?

No. This stays quiet for now. So long as Arthur doesn't hurt anyone close to Hitoshi, Hitoshi stays quiet.*
Laura
*Watching the man, who had introduced himself as Zed, pat the female kitsune on the back, he raised one of his eyebrows in skepticism as he analyzed "Hitoshi's" New look. Well, that was if it really was Hitoshi. You can't really believe someone's words if you've only just met that person nearly a second ago, so obviously there was room for questionability. A farmer, though? What would Hitoshi be doing hanging out with a farmer? How would he even know a farmer in the first place?

He heard a tortured, agonizing groan leave the woman's mouth. She seemed to look mortified, and acted along the part as well. He heard her introduce herself as Hitoshi, which added even more doubt to the situation. He sincerely didn't think that Hitoshi would somehow fuck up hard enough to completely change into a girl, unless he actually did... If so, that would betray Arthur's expectations completely, since he always thought that Hitoshi had better judgement than he looked. Perhaps a test was in order.*

"You're Hitoshi? I kind of doubt it. If you're really the Hitoshi I know, and not some failed copycat, then you'd know what rank I was in New Sunlight before I... Er, left."
Kevin
*Aggravated Groan 2: Electric Boogaloo.*

"You were a Squire. You decided to meet up with me and Mevis before you left. Mevis promised something about paying your bounty. We had a final goodbye. You left."

*That was what happened, right? Really close to it, anyway. Whatever. It's not like she's lying.*

"Oh yeah. And you said something about the place we had that sparring at."

*Yeah, just to cap it off. **Now** Would Arthur believe any of this shit? Honestly, Hitoshi really wouldn't blame Arthur if he doesn't...*
Laura
*Aha. This wasn't the Hitoshi he knew; when he left new Sunlight, he was a Page, not a Squire! Though, how was this person familiar with Mevis? It could be that they were thrust together on a sort of mission, but only the real Hitoshi and Mevis knew about how he had said his final farewells on that night that he had left them both. His doubts were becoming alleviated, but there were still hints of skepticism in his mind. Further testing was needed if he were to uncover the truth about this situation.*

"Wrong. I was a Page when I got kicked out. Honestly, I still don't believe you completely. But hey, that was only one question, right? Anyway, question two:

Where did we meet?"
Kevin
*God fucking damn it. Hitoshi, you fucking idiot.*

"We met about a month or so ago. I was looking for work. You pointed me to a nearby shop, and we met some old guy with magic powers. He wanted me to gather... Plants, I think? And then we sparred. You kicked my ass. Then you set off for New Sunlight. I tagged along, and ditched the old man, *Wonder how he's doing now...* Hey, that spell you used for your reflexes... That was much stronger before. Stronger than it is now. Uhh... Oh, I remember we were given a mission to fight some thugs before. You, me, Mevis. We had to use our fists. We won. Obviously... That enough?"

*Massive, aggravated sigh. That bank of random memories finally came in handy. Hooray.*
Laura
"Wow, you actually got that right. Er... Yeah, that was actually right on the mark."

*Arthur's demeanor looked as calm as he could on the outside, but on the inside, his body was on fire - not because he was nervous as to the fact that this really was Hitoshi, but more so because... He somehow managed to turn himself into a girl. Inside, he was screaming with confusion, pounding his fist against a blank wall to vent his over saturated confusion and thoughts. Why, no, what - no, how? There were so many questions that he needed answers to. His eyes on the outside kept their collected and unfazed look, but his inner self had his eyes widened open to unimagineable distances as he tried to rack up a logical conclusion on how this had turned out.* 

*Glancing to and from Hitoshi to Zed, he finally noticed the open space that Zed had opened as he scooted over. Sitting down next to Zed, with a look of great confusion plastered all over his face, he weakly looked up to Hitoshi, who still had his, no her, face concealed by her hat.*

"So... Er, mind telling me what you've been up to?"
Kevin
"Before you ask... This was an accident. Okay? This... Was an *Accident...* I pissed off some old bitch. That's all I will say."

*Thats enough info, innit? No need to divulge any more.*

"Also, I have changed my combat style. I noticed my night vision and hearing improve a lot. I hear a lot more. Even when I would rather not hear anything. Uhh... Not much else, really. Oh, Arthur. Watch yourself, okay? Me and Mevis got some assassin missions. As in, there has been loads of assassinations going on. Just be careful."

*Seriously, there's been a lot of recent assassinations. Two assassin missions in tandem? Yeesh. Spooky. Not something Hitoshi was exactly beaming over.

She taps her fingernails on the table. This is awkward. At least the tea was spilt, Hitoshi supposes. Although it's still really awkward...* **Really awkward.**
Laura
*Shit. Assassin hunting missions, isn't it? Arthur suspected that there was probably one or two out there that targeted him, seeing that he had practically killed the headmaster of a prestigious school once before, and continued to take out an entire guild with another party of his. Hell, it wasn't even too long ago where he had to take out a couple merchants and their mercenaries as well; news of his various murders - no, exterminations - would probably have reached the ears of those who were out for his head. A scary thought. It made him shudder slightly, knowing that there were people out there that were actively trying to hunt him down. He laughed awkwardly, taking in Hitoshi's words.*

*Also, on the topic of changing combat styles, or just combat in general, he still hadn't really told anyone he was a vampire. He would have told Hitoshi now, but since this water macen, Zed, was here, he decided to keep it a secret for now, until he got a chance to speak alone with Hitoshi.*

"An accident? Care to elaborate?"
James
*Zed looks between the two, finishing up the last of his sandwich. New Sunlight, huh? Hitoshi, shadow magic practitioner, had joined New Sunlight, the heroic guild that protected others. Now that he thinks about it, it made sense. Arthur had apparently been there as well, and was seemingly very powerful if he could beat the Salamander in a spar. Now, who was Mevis? Must be someone else. Seems like the two have done a lot of work. Seeing Hitoshi's unfinished lunch, he breaks off the bitten part and starts to eat Hitoshi's share. Hey, he's paying anyway.*
Kevin
*Sigh of the century. No, Hitoshi **Didn't** Want to go over this again. It was really stupid and really unavoidable and pathetic, but whatever.*

"I accidentally bumped into some old crazy witch who probably thought this was some kind of *"Karma*". And now I can - *Zed, you could've asked, but whatever.*"

*Hitoshi isn't in the mood to divulge any more information regarding the **A c c i d e n t** And really would rather it just be treated as something stupid that happened. Although there is one random question on Hitoshi's mind...*

"Does my new face at least look good? Be honest." *Dumb grin on her face. If she looks good, she can save so much money by flirting with men, getting them to pay for stuff and ditching them at the right time- **Goddamn, being a woman is great!***
James
*Zed stops eating in surprise, then resumes. He didn't expect Hitoshi to try to get used to being a woman. Though it would probably be in his best interest to. For her sake, hopefully it doesn't attract too much attention.*

"Didn't know that you wanted to be like this, Hitoshi. Just be careful to not use it *Too* Much."
Kevin
*Again, Hitoshi speaks in Runran to Zed.*

"Yeah, makes sense. There's some... **Strange** Types out there, you know?"

"Not like I wanted it, but... May as well try to make the most of it..."
James
*He replies back in Runran.*

"Better get used to it. Or start working. Otherwise it might stick."

*He tosses 2 silver coins to the waiter.*

"So, Arthur, what about you? What do you do nowadays?"
Laura
*Hitoshi... Pissed off an old woman, which caused him one way or another to turn into one herself? Well, minus the 'old' part, of course, but still - there was no reasonable explanation to how this all came about. Wheels were turning in Arthur's head, attempting to figure out what had truly happened to his friend. A magical anomaly? A curse from the gods? Or was it really something stupid, like karma?*

*He watched as Zed took a bite right off of Hitoshi's sandwich, slowly finishing her share. It was a pretty big sandwich, and it looked really tasty as well. Even though Arthur couldn't really feel the sensation of hunger anymore, however, he didn't really find enough of an appetite to become interested on how the sandwich tasted. That was quite rude. Biting off of someone else's meal was not only disrespectful, but at the same time, it conveyed a good amount of insolence. Arthur's face involuntarily scrunched up a bit, his mouth turning into a slight scowl, before Hitoshi spoke again.

She asked Arthur how her face looked, finally revealing herself from under the hat. A giant dumb grin on her face was plastered throughout it, but it more or less looked the same as the male Hitoshi. Smooth skin and a pretty face, she was actually quite beautiful; if it were anyone else, they would have become flustered with what she had asked. However, Arthur at this point still saw Hitoshi as a man, so he could answer her pretty honestly.*

"Yeah. It actually looks pretty good on you, which is kind of unexpected. But by the gods, Hitoshi - I won't delve in further with this matter, but there are **SO** Many questions I have right now, most of which concerns the details of this situation."

*He also turned back towards Zed, who had asked him a question himself.*

"Nowadays? I sort of just... Wander. I gain money by doing any job I can find, most of which involve exterminating one thing or another. I've been doing it for a good while now - I'd say about a couple of months at this point. Even had to break a maximum security prisoner out of her cell one time; stressful, but I still managed to pull it off." *He stopped for a moment, wondering if he should mention the Boss in his sort of little monologue. He decided against it, however; he really didn't want to end up like Vinran.*
James
"Hmm. Interesting. Maybe you could lead me to this job? I've been looking for one myself, since the harvests don't look to good."

*Hmm. Maximum security prison? That must be quite a prisoner, and quite a good fighter. Probably wasn't alone though. He seems like a fighter, but not quite an assassin. Seems like he needs to get his magic back up.*
Laura
"No, can't really help you out with that, seeing that the job's already done. But I can understand not being able to harvest literally anything, with the Emperor's storm going on in this state. Honestly, it doesn't really seem that it's going to lift up anytime soon. It's a real shame, but oh well."

*Thoughts began to race in his mind. For example, why would a simple farmer want to know about a prison break job? Was this man also wanted as well? If so, it would definitely explain why he hadn't found himself in a fight yet. Perhaps he was in good company after all, but he really shouldn't be casual - anything could happen at the moment, so his guard should not be let down at any costs.*
James
"Yeah. How about who gave you the job? There's no way you did that on your own. Someone must have offered it to you. The wheat's going to freeze over anyway. I need some way to make some coin."

*He's quite interested now. Hopefully he can gain more power through this. He picks up his glass, and takes a long drink of the cool water, feeling it run down his throat.*