Those Who Meet From the Grace Network [Private: Ikari/Sora]

It had only really been half a day since Ikari had her little meeting with Rita. She had yet to get the chance to return to Aiko and tell her the good news. Instead, what Ikari did have the chance for was properly acquainted herself with her new place, and enjoying what any person should; a nice hot shower. Truth be told, she enjoyed herself to the maximum in a completely private space! Albeit, she wasn't too... Mm... frivolous. Private it may be, but she still wished to be careful. Even if Ikari was a rather carefree spirit, caution was still prudent.

Soon followed was Ikari getting into proper contact with this Sora man. Frankly speaking, Ikari didn't entirely know what she was getting herself into, but with a... somewhat confusing text strain, she was able to convince the man to meet; especially after fully telling him how, and why, she obtained his number. He seemed a bit more willing if it was Rita's will, apparently. Regardless, Ikari chose a very neutral setting, a park. Frankly speaking, it seemed like the best place to be, and Ikari could surreptitiously turn into a fox if she needed to kill some time.

For now, however, with Sora furnished with a description of Ikari, the Kitsune currently killed time by playing some games on her phone, her personal phone at least. She knew enough about work that a work phone should be kept strictly for just that; work! Regardless, Ikari waited with a patience that was held easily. After all, time passes swiftly when you have something to distract yourself.

Okay, okay, okay, okay...

Sora received a message from Rita about an hour ago. This was going to be his first job, request, mission thing... All he had to do is meet up with someone and do some sort of training, likely combat. Perfect! He wasn't the best fighter in the world, but Sora was confident in his ability to defend himself. After all, he did have his shikai, and that was one of the big steps to proving you were someone as a shinigami. Too bad he wanted nothing to do with those idiots. Anyways, he got dressed, shoved down some breakfast, and rushed out to the meeting place.

The problem was that it was a woman and Sora's initial communication was not done well. He would have to make up for that in person. Maybe he'd blame the phones and his hatred of technology? If only that hatred actually existed; it'd be a believable excuse. He would have to face her normally instead... Here we go.

Upon arriving at the park, it wasn't hard to spot the pink haired woman playing games on her phone. Sora froze in the middle of the walkway about a hundred feet away from Ikari. While he dazed out, trying to figure out how to approach her, someone roughly nudged him in the ribs. "Out of my way, asshole," a girl said. Sora tensed and ran away from her yelling "Sorry." Unfortunately for him, he ran right toward Ikari and slid to a stop in front of her. His decision was quickly made.

Plan A.

"The name's Sora," he said, sounding "tougher" than he normally would, though she wouldn't realize that. "You're Ikari, right? What exactly do you want from me?"

To say that Ikari was at a loss for words would be a complete understatement. She blinked at the man who had run up and slid to a stop before her, unsure who exactly he was. She had heard someone yelling something a bit earlier, along with some rude ass woman making her pompous ass by... But apparently, all that appeared to be linked with Sora. Ikari couldn't help but stare as she held her phone sideways, as she was in the middle of playing something upon it, and stare blankly at the man before her. He sounded... a bit odd. Then again, his texts were the paramount of odd. Disjointed, confused, and certainly not that of someone who was acquainted with this age. Then again, perhaps he was not! Regardless, all Ikari could do for a good portion of time was *stare*.

After what would definitely be considered as staring for a bit too long, Ikari gently shook her head, revealing something in her hair that almost didn't look quite like hair; which of course were her ears. But, Sora too wouldn't know what they were! She gave him a small smile, unsure what to think of the man before her. She at least put away her phone, and stood to meet him, her rather plain looking clothes likely a bit of a relief... At least until he noticed the five pink tails that were all too obviously attached to Ikari; but they were fluffy, and proportionate to her size too!

"Yes, I am Ikari. It's nice to meet you face to face, Sora... I think...? But are you alright? You seem quite agitated and, I believe you were shouting at someone earlier?"

Ikari really hoped that this man wasn't imbalanced. She honestly and truly hoped so, because she didn't need her first meeting with someone, especially someone that Rita helped put together and arrange, However, Ikari was going to do her best to put her best foot forward. After all, Rita did suggest she and Sora try to help each other... if that was possible with how worked up he seemed.

This woman's appearance was strange. Sora stared at her, some of the apprehension and awkwardness he hide actually fading the longer he looked at her. While she stared, so did he. Sora took in her tail and the ears. Oh god... He may have had a few quirks about himself, but this lady was taking weird to a whole new level. Fortunately for him, he knew not to say anything stupid. Instead, he would ignore the entire weird appearance going on. That was the smart way to do this...

"Oh, that? No, you can ignore that. I'm fine," Sora said, keeping up his strange and unfamiliar tough guy demeanor. "So, you're who Rita sent my way, right? I hear I'm supposed to help you in some training? What exactly are you looking for?"

As Sora stared at her, without talking, Ikari's brow furrowed, and she looked honestly frustrated. Dammit! She fucking hated it when people stared at her just because she had fox ears and five tails. That was completely regular! Hell, she was adorable! But, you would think people of this silly world would get used to the fact that there are some pretty odd looking people in this world; ESPECIALLY after the demonic incursion! But noooooooooooo! Ikari pouted as Sora continued to stare at her, and she was tempted to flick his nose or slip him just to keep him from staring. However, before she had the chance to be outwardly angry at him, Sora finally spoke; even as Ikari carefully smoothed her tails. Finally, to the meat of the matter.

"Yeah, she did. Frankly, I have a feeling she thought we could help each other, and less you helping only me. But uh..."

Ikari tilted her head somewhat, which barely exposed the ears that normally were quite well hidden within her hair, while her five tails twitched gently before she consciously had her tails come together to make it look like she did indeed have one *Big* tail. AS she thought, she gently tapped her lips with the pad of her pointer finger, contemplating what she could get from Sora.

"Frankly speaking... I'm not sure. We could try to spar real quick to figure out what each is lacking, perhaps? Otherwise, I couldn't honestly guess what you could give me. A dear friend of mine once told me that the best way to get to know someone, was to cross blades with them. What do you think?"

Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no. If Rita thought Ikari could "help" him, he knew exactly what that was about! It's cause she was a woman, and he was... was... well, himself! Rita, no. Why? Sora did his best to keep his composure, a single nervous sweat drop, wiped away by his wrist, as if the warm sun had caused it.

"Eh, I'm not really lacking; I'm on the confident side in referring to combat and odd jobs. I'm a horrid singer though, and I guess I could use shunpo and kido practice... Anyways, did she gave an actual job lined up I could help you with?"

Sora did not seem to keen on the idea of sparring. The moment she brought it up, he tried getting away from the subject, looking for something else to try.

NOW Ikari was hellishly confused. What Rita had said was that they both could help each other, not that Sora would only help Ikari. The fox woman couldn't help but tilt her head as she looked at Sora. What was up with this man? He was so utterly extremely confusing. Deflecting, changing the subject, avoiding just about everything, and was expressly acting quite shifty. She tilted her head to the side, her ears perked as she stared at Sora. What was his deal?

"No... She didn't have any jobs for me. What the heck is wrong with a spar? Besides, anyone who says they aren't lacking are normally lacking. Seriously, what's wrong? If you're afraid of combat, then we don't have to spar or anything, but what else would we do? Rita figured we could help each other, not just you help me; because I am definitely not helpless and nor do I need someone to come and save me! So! Shall we help each other or should I just leave you here pissing in the wind? I want to help so Rita knows she can depend on me if needed, but what can you do? All you're telling me is that you can help; but not with what I want help with, or with what Rita thinks you could potentially help with. So?"

Ikari was, to put it nicely, not impressed. How was this man supposed to help her if he wouldn't even accept help himself? She wouldn't mind helping him, but what was the point of trying to help someone who wouldn't accept help in the first place? It was annoying, and Ikari was not going to deal with an annoying man for very long. Frankly, she might bite him if he was too damn annoying... Lordy, this man really needed to find some self confidence before someone walked all over him.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey!" Sora was gonna stop her right there. The one thing he was not afraid of was combat! The problem was her: the pretty lady. The idea of throwing a punch, or fire, at her was just appalling to him. Let him be called old fashioned or misogynistic. Why possibly harm a beautiful face? That was down right sinful.

"I am not afraid of combat, alright?" Sora finally spoke a sentence that seemed put together. "And help you with what? How am I supposed to know what you need help with if you haven't told me? For all I know, your cat is in a tree or your sister was kidnapped. I thought I was being sent here to do a job, so whatever this is...." Sora gestured to all of her, but referred to her attitude. "I don't read minds, so speak up."

Oh, so he wasn't afraid of combat. What was it then? Was he afraid of women? Possible... Was he just a man without a spine? Also possible! Either way, Ikari wasn't impressed in any way, shape, or form. She frowned at the man as he spoke of his excuses, his reasons, and what ever else he could think of to avoid combat with Ikari. She couldn't help but frown now as Sora further went on and expounded upon how she hadn't even told him why he was here; even though she had stated before that she wanted some help with training and figured a spar would be the best way to figure out where she was lacking. Either he didn't listen to her earlier, or he was an idiot.

Ikari walked closer to him, her five tails puffed ominously, and a deep growl seeming to emit on accident from the Kitsune's throat. She poked Sora in the chest with all the authority of a mother or a much older woman, even if she did have to look up at him thanks to their height difference; four inches was four inches.

"I already told you what I think we could do; we could spar, so that way I can figure out what I am lacking and maybe you could also figure out what you might be needing help with; I don't give a flying fuck if you don't think you need any help, people can always improve. Maybe if you were listening instead of being afraid of... whatever it is you're afraid of, you would know that I wanted to SPAR so we could figure out what I need to improve on, and perhaps what YOU might need to improve on. SO! Stow whatever in the name of Inari is scaring you shitless, and grow some cojones!"

Ikari poked him once more in the chest before she gave him a closer look, her eyelids becoming slits over those brilliantly purple eyes of hers. Was he one of those overly chivalrous men that didn't hit women? OR was he afraid of hurting her? Fat chance... Unless this man could keep up with her, Ikari would need to be very unlucky to get seriously hurt. Besides, she could heal injuries as long as they weren't too serious!

"On the other hand, if you're one of those overtly chivalrous men that doesn't want to hurt someone in a spar, be assured that, one: I can heal anything that isn't fatal. Secondly, if you find me unable to withstand or avoid attacks, then I want you to try and hit me right now; because we'll get nowhere if you insist on this ridiculousness. So! What is your answer? Will you let fear rule your life, or will you take life by the horns and fucking LIVE?!"

A dark look came to Sora’s eyes when she poked his chest. He took a step back from Ikari and stared at her. The clumsy and awkward demeanor he had been portraying rapidly faded and was replaced with something tense, like an angry dog ready to pounce. She went on some rant, carrying a different, more authoritative aura of her own, but Sora was not having it. As she came in a second time, he took another step back from her attempt to poke him. She didn’t touch him.

"You make a lot of assumptions about strangers, don’t you?” Sora said, his voice low, angered, but controlled. "Look, I was sent here on a job to help with your training, not mine. Enough with that 'you may find something you need to improve in' shit. Who meets someone that came here to do them a favor and immediately tells them that they should work on themselves. You know nothing about me or my abilities. If you want to spar, fine, but it won't be here. Need somewhere safe."

Sora slid his hands into his pockets. If it weren't for this being his first job, he would probably walk away from this. He turned around and gestured for her to follow. "I know a place outside of the city that people are rarely at. We can head there."

Sora's demeanor calmed down on the way to his place outside the city. He let his frustration with the woman subside as they walked on and even tried for some casual conversation on the way there. It was normal stuff, such as favorite foods, books, places to go, etc... He enjoyed anything Italian, couldn't focus on a book to save his life, and enjoyed beaches that weren't too packed.

They arrived outside the city, away from people that could get hurt if they decided to use their powers. It also prevented any onlookers from calling the police for public fighting. It was just a large, slightly hilly valley with pretty long grass. There weren't many trees around, but there was a nice view of the city. With the breeze running through, the valley came off tranquil, at least for the moment.

"So, where do you want to start?"