Nariko clasped her hands together and smiled brightly. "Sweet!" she exclaimed before she took a hold of Ren's hand. "We can go to the one near here- I think it's just a few blocks down the street." Nariko had gone to that training ground when she was little, but she didn't remember much about the interior. Really, she couldn't remember anything. All she knew was that when she watched the Hunger Games on a big screen, she noted that the training ground in that movie looked familiar. 'Maybe that's what it looks like?' she wondered curiously before she shook the thought away and bid the store clerk farewell.

Ren held Nariko's hand and followed her easily. The store clerk waved to the girls as they left.

[short~ x-x]

It may or may not have occurred to Nariko to think realistically about anything after she left the store- her mind was preoccupied with other things. So, she kindly kept a hold on Ren's hand and sort of glided down the sidewalk. "It's just a few blocks away, so we have time more or less to look at anything else in between here and there," she started to say before she took a small breath and debated whether or not to dismiss that idea.

Ren shakes her head as the two walk towards the training ground Nariko brought up, it sparked an interest. She kept her newly fond sword on her back as they walked.

Nariko nodded and maintained the somewhat obnoxious grin on her face. "Ahh~ We're close," she stated. Only a few yards ahead, she recognized the similar sign that stuck out from the side of the strip chain- a picture of two swords diagonally crossing each other downwards. It stirred only a few memories, but they were quality ones back when the world wasn't quite as ignoring.

[[ Hmm.. Where do you want to go with this? (I'm having a serious writer's block) ]]

[[ -shrug- they could be ambushed by low-level demons? O.o ]]

Ren kept one hand interlaced with Nariko's as they walked side-by-side. The wind picked up just a little enough to lift the girls's hair.

[[ Ooh~ definitely. c: ]]

Nariko glanced back but one time when she noticed the wind pick up. A blank emote and a slightly unnerved squeeze of Ren's hand was all she could express before the moment passed. As she reached for the door of the training center, the breeze caused the bell on the inside of the door to ring just a little more when Nariko pulled on it. At first, the middle-aged, Eastern-Asian looking man behind the counter glanced up for a split second. It was definitely habitual, as he paid absolutely no mind to what he had initially taken in. Then, he looked again from his newspaper and adjusted the glasses on his eyes to see better. "Is that a Kimura I see?" he asked with a timely, slightly worn voice, referring to the surname Nariko was associated with.

[[Sweet! :D]]

Ren looked at the elderly man and smiled sweetly. "Hi~ I'm Ren, a friend of Nariko's." She greeted kindly with a hint of energy. "We were wondering if um... we could use the training grounds for a little while?" Ren asked nervously with a sheepish smile.

The man reached a hand up and fixed the rectangular set of glasses into the correct place on his nose. "Sure," he answered before he lifted a finger and pointed at Nariko. "Her family plan accounts for three and doesn't expire for quite some time." He winked after that and twisted a key behind the counter which caused a series of clicking sounds to echo down the hallway hidden around the corner. "Take care; don't shoot anyone in the knee."

Nariko grinned brightly, showing her set of teeth. "Okay, thank you!" she said a little too anxiously. She nodded her head- a sort of bow to couple with her thanks. "The whole place was built here right when before city was, but only as a storage unit at first," she said as she motioned towards the door around the corner. "So that guy's grandpa got permission to turn it into a training center after he finished serving in the military. Somehow his family knew some of my ancestors, but I can't remember any of the details.."

Ren thanked him with a light bow of her head before wrapping and arm around one of Nariko's as the two walked down the long hallway. Her lavender eyes flickered around the new surroundings, also listening to Nari as she talked. "Wow~" Was all she could say to whole thing. She was awestruck and couldn't hardly believe her eyes and ears, it was all so exciting!

Nariko looked up for a second, momentarily confused, before she realized that it really was a story worth appreciating. The smile returned to her face when she reached towards a large metal door that would have looked just like the dim walls had the light not been turned on. She pulled it open and the side revealed a few inches of metal and an intricate locking system that had already been undone. "Well, anyhow," she continued as if to announce her cease of rambling. "Here we are!"

She panned her hand across a vast open space that was virtually a metal box. Full of a thousand trinkets and obstacles, such as some of the shooting targets and rope ladders that went close to the ceiling that appeared to be obscured by a mesh of a tree-like material, or the moving target dummies in the center of the entire place that occasionally lashed out like a person would had they been attacked- something to keep the swordsman at his or her guard. And that was just the material things within the open space.

[[ I decided to leave it at that. There could be two NPC-like characters already fencing on one side, or it could be an empty place, or someplace that was already full of people. 'Tis up to you. n.n ]]

[[ well~ if we leave the place empty then the demon ambush previously planned wouldn't be as fun... plus, it would put Ren in much more of a pickle then she's been through in a while- wow. sounds much more twisted when i actually put the idea down... o.o' *innocent grin* ]]

Ren lavender eyes sparkled as she looked around the grounds. The poor girl couldn't speak if she wanted to because of the amount of awe she was in. Ren shakes her head and rubs her eyes to make sure she wasn't just dreaming. "I'm really standing here aren't I...? This isn't a dream..." She whispered, mostly to herself.

[[ A'ighty then, innocent grins it is- we'll have lotsa people in the gym to make it even more fun. Isn't it great to be a sadist with your characters? *w*; ]]

Nariko nudged Ren from the side playfully as if to push her into the training grounds. "You should come here more often," she said a little deviously. "Then you'd really pick up some sharp skills." The last part of her phrase was one of those rare allusions to Ren's rather inhuman nature. Then, just before her mind elaborated past her memories of Ren and into darker, more recent events, Nariko smiled and took off into the room towards one of the doors to the side. "C'mon, try out your katana! I'll go rent a dagger~"

[[ Your avatar reminds me of No.6 now (as I continue to awe ; o;" gomen) ]]

[[ Yusss! I love my "babies" but even the innocent grin comes into play at times *giggles* Neh, who's gonna trigger the ambush? --- No. 6? O.o ]]

Ren smirked lightly when Nariko nudged her playfully and nodded. "I can see myself coming here a lot more..." She chuckled quietly. Ren watched Nariko rocket into a different room that was to the side, then moved her eyes to the training ground. There were so many people, humans, moving about the grounds like they were hyped up on sugar- no, adrenalin. Ren walked over to a spot that was like it's own little private section of the grounds. The others didn't bother with the dummies so Ren took a whack at it. She used her katana and "had fun" with the different dummies in the back of the room.

[[ Mohahah, the sadism. <3 One of the teachers is actually already in the training gym from this post because she "convinced" (with her persuasive/seductive skills) one of the owners of the training grounds to let her keep an inventory of her (torture) weapons (which would have been otherwise illegal to own) in that underground-ish place. She could trigger the attacks upon seeing Ren or Nariko and just have the capability because she's married to a demon of some sort. Or vice versa; she's the demon and her spouse is human so she gets involved with humans more often than normal. *shrug* ]]

Nariko had slipped into the storage room on the west wing of the training grounds to grab a curved scimitar. Sure, it was bigger than a dagger but Nariko was comfortable with the way it felt in her hands. Then, she held it like a lance with her palm against the flat side of the blade as to not cut herself and charged into the part of the gym where Ren was. Nariko tried a flying kick on one of the dummies but was unfortunately confronted with the fact that some of them were more sturdier than others. So, she bladed the chest of the tough fabric and ended up using the blade as a handle to keep herself from falling off the figure. "Aw, it was supposed to fall down.." she whimpered before letting go and standing aside to watch Ren. "Are you liking it so far?"

[[ No.6 is one of the best feels-y anime out there. *o* Nezumi (rat; the mice you have reminded me of it) falls in love with Sion-- more the other way around at first-- and it's fangirling bloodynose shounen the entire time. I like the manga more, though- Sion has more of a psychotic character towards the end and it's more developed. <3 ]]

[[ i like this idea "She could trigger the attacks upon seeing Ren or Nariko" ^o^ --- ah, cool~ hehe]]

Ren put her sword away and used the sheath as a cane of some sort for her to lean on as she took a breather. "I love it." She smirked a little. Her violet eyes had a certain dark and excited gleam in them as she glanced at Nariko with a sweet smile. "Thank you for sharing this place with me Nari..." She cooed as she leaned over and kissed her cheek.

Nariko's cheeks flushed a little when Ren kissed her. "S-sure," she said. "Though you would have found it sooner or later." Nariko turned and pulled the scimitar out of the dummy's chest right when she got a small shock to her finger. She felt her hair get a little static-like for a moment- as in the ends frayed ever so slightly- before she heard a loud cracking sound from the other side of the gym. Nariko turned to see what it was past Ren when she noticed a familiar-looking person with long, curled red hair and stilettos firing up an electric staff to shock-test the voltage. Immediately her gaze returned to Ren. "We need to-" As Nariko started to form the word "leave," she noticed the figure in the distance bash her staff on the ground and cause a swirling vortex-like shape of a deep purple color start growing in the floor. When she finally made eye-contact with the lady in heels, Nariko caught the faintest glimpse of a smirk in her eyes behind the mask. "Ren-- we really need to leave now."

Ren chuckled lightly. "I doubt it... I never would've come into the city without you." She smiled. Her smiled faded when she noticed Nariko's expression change as if she'd seen a ghost. Ren glanced in the direction of the familiar face and grit her teeth. 'What the hell is she doing here?!' Her thoughts growled.

"Ren-- we really need to leave now." Ren blinked and looked at Nariko. "I doubt our friend will let us leave..." She murmured quietly as she claimed one of Nariko's hands.

Nariko shook her head slightly and quickly, hoping that the small amount of communication wasn't too visible from far away across the gym. "N-no, but.." she said quietly as she took Ren's other hand and began to nudge her towards where she knew an emergency exit was located. 'I wondered who owned those weapons..' Nariko thought as she glanced over her shoulder. She could faintly remember the feeling of being hunted from somewhere but there was nothing to lead her to any conclusion so she dropped the thought immediately. "We have to try- you'll regret it if we don't." There were so many things she wanted to say and bring up at the same time that it was hard to keep her thoughts clear on getting Ren out unharmed.

[[ shall we que the ambush when they try to flee? ]]

Ren gazed at Nariko with her violet eyes for a moment before nodding lightly. "Alright..." She murmured quietly. "Lead the way my love." Ren whispered softly.

[[ Totally! <3 ]]

Nariko blinked once, mesmerized momentarily by Ren's eyes. She quickly darted her gaze away when a flush of heat tinted her cheeks red. A soft smile curled onto her lips as she lead Ren to a side exit. Hidden in plain sight with the pattern of the wall was a door that opened when Nariko pressed a tile in that was a little above her head. She turned around and leaned into the wall, revealing that distant happiness as she opened a military door. "Ren.." she started to say before she caught a glimpse of the electric witch not too far off. "--This way," Nariko added, pointing down the unlit hallway that discretely lead out to the rest of the world.

[[ Oyasuminasai, Nova-chan ~o~.. ]]

[[ Yay! Cuing the ambush~ ^w^ -- Oyasuminasai, Yume-chan ^-^]]

Ren went about following Nariko all the way to the military door. She froze when the faint sound of agonizing screaming, and laughter reached her ears. 'Just keep going... Don't turn around... Ignore it.' Her thoughts echoed, but it was too late. Ren slowly moved her head to the side so she could get the tiniest peek on what was going on. Demons. Her eyes went wide and turned fully to see the hoards of demons raiding the gym. 'No... Who the hell does she think she is?!' Her thoughts screamed. Ren slowly took her free hand and placed it over the flickering amulet around her neck.

Nariko noticed Ren reach for her amulet. She stepped out of the doorway to get a better look of the gym and stood, shocked, for a second. Then she drew the blade she'd kept underneath her shirt. "What are these things!?" she asked in a loud whisper, inching closer to Ren in the process and readying her scimitar.

[[ I swear I sent this hours ago before I left .o.;; Gomen ]]

[[ it's okay ^-^ ]]

"Demons..." Ren murmured. She carefully drew her katana after thinking about pulling out her cell to call Nathan and deciding not to. "I can't just stand by and watch this..." She said lowly in a roughened voice due to the amount of strain she was placing upon herself just to keep herself still. After a moment or two of trying really hard to stay still, she finally couldn't hold back anymore and ran towards the hoard of demons with her katana ready to hack'n'slah. Everything about her fighting made her look like she was dancing.

Nariko was taken back momentarily when she heard it. "Demons..." It sent a short-lived chill up her spine before she shook her head. By then, Ren had already taken off so Nariko followed closely behind until they reached the growing crowd of inhuman monsters. At some point she noticed that she wasn't back-to-back with Ren due to her lack of grace in her combat which sent her in a different direction. As soon as she stopped to find her love, Nariko's hair began to stand on end. She whirled around and charged at the source of the electricity and found herself face-to-face with the red-haired teacher, her own scimitar against the uncharged handle of the electric staff. "Nice to see you both again, Nariko. I trust that you've completed your homework before spending your free time, but aren't you both a little young to be handling swords?" the lady asked sarcastically. Right when her staff began to spark up, Nariko bashed her sword forwards like a shield which sent her and the teacher in opposite directions about seven feet apart. It was barely enough to avoid the electric arc. "Take your monsters somewhere else!" Nariko hissed.