Framed in Fortune (Arc/Lani, Painters)(NSFW)

Between the bandages and their bleeding, the men slowly started to die off and ribbon, leaving only souls in place.

Once the last soul appeared, she released the resonance, slumping over a bit before tossing Takumi, allowing him to transform so that they would have some time to relax. After all, it seemed that the elder partners had taken care of most everyone that was left. She hoped they hadn't left too much work for them. After all, this was supposed to be her and Takumi's hunt.

Takumi transformed and sat down on the floor against the wall they had put the hole in. "You okay?" he asked, though he knew that she was unharmed physically.

She nodded, though she was slumping over a bit, and eventually ended up with her hands on her knees while she fought back the headache and nausea. Really, she'd hoped that she wouldn't have had to have made so many marks on the men before they'd dropped, and having to strangle someone else wasn't exactly her cup of tea, either. Still, the job was done, or at least it appeared to be, judging by the sound-offs going on from the DWMA affiliates. Soon, a few of them arrived; by then, she was standing upright again, ushering the girls into the area she was at, to get them away from the gruesome scene.

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Total Dead KE Count: 21
Total Incapacitated Impure Count: 1+
Impure Fled: 2+

Takumi had at some point just decided to just make sure he was nearby Rin without getting in the way. He didn't think that there was much that he could help with. He was just sort of thinking about what they should be doing afterwards; he was going to have to eat all those souls, which thinking about it amounted to more than his current count was. It was that and it also put him a third of the way to becoming a Death Scythe himself, which was also strange to think about considering how he had started out thinking that his weapon form was absolutely useless. Then, Takumi tried to plan on how to drag Rin to an optician and keep her there long enough to get a pair of glasses...

In the midst of Takumi's musings, the Death Meister they'd been spending the most time with approached Rin to update her on the rest of their mission. It seemed that they had successfully busted the business, here; it was a small enough one that it appeared to be the case that there were no bigger groups it was connected to. This one was certainly their main base. She also notified them that one of the runes they'd placed had gone off after they'd left the area, and presented them with two additional kishin egg souls.

"After all," she said, "you're the ones that killed them."

Rin accepted this willingly, handing them over to Takumi, or at least holding them out to him. It was at this point that she actually looked to him, unsure if he'd been distracted this entire time.

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~Final Tallies~
Total Dead KE Count: 23
Total Incapacitated Impure Count: 1+
Impure Fled: 2+

Takumi was a little distracted due to his thoughts, but not enough that he didn't notice Rin holding out the souls to him, taking them from her. With a smile, he said a cheerful sounding, joking itadakimasu before swallowing the souls one after the other. "I'm going to go gather the rest," he said, quickly, finally figuring out something that he could do that was productive in some fashion.

Rin laughed a little bit at this, the sound almost breathless though not without mirth. While he was gone, she and the Death Meister set about finishing the discussion on the ring they'd busted and the 'innocents' that had been apprehended by the later's associates. It seemed that their group would take things from here, leaving Rin and Takumi free to head home whenever they wished. Opting to wait outside for Takumi, as they still needed a way back to the hotel, she leaned against the outside of the building and found herself staring at the sand, losing herself in her thoughts. She probably wouldn't notice immediately when he'd reappear.

Takumi came out of the building a short while later with his hands stuffed into his pockets, mostly looking like his usual default selt but partially looking like someone might do when they have too much of a food that usually isn't bad but becomes terrible in larger quantities. He stood next to Rin, also leaning against the wall. "I have 35 souls total now," he said, suddenly, "and the texture when eating a bunch in a row feels terrible," he then went on.

His words jolted her, causing her to jump a bit before looking over at him, a sheepish smile quickly appearing as her face flushed. "More than a third of a way to the endgame." She said, trying to force herself out of her embarressment.

Takumi chuckled quietly at her reaction, though he ignored it otherwise, deeming it unwise to overly bring attention to anything that made Rin embarrassed. At the very least, while he still wanted her to do something. "Yep," he said, nodding, "So, when's our flight back?"

"In the morning," she said, looking away while she tried to get the blush to fade, realizing that he had, in fact, noticed her reaction. Of course, it would have been hard for him to miss. "We'll be back at the hotel, tonight."

"Fine by me," he said smiling at her now, while reaching for her hand. He'd leave her today without any ocular apparatus harassment. When they got back to Death City, however, he'd make sure that it happened.

She took his hand automatically, without thinking about it in the slightest. Without a word, she walked them back to one of the vehicles, and soon they were off to the town.

While in the car, Takumi spent some more time thinking, though not about much in particular. At one point, though, he wanted to talk about something or other, so spoke up about something that came to his head. "Hey, Rin, do you think I should wear something else instead of this coat?"

Rin blinked suddenly, not knowing where the topic came from. "Your... coat?" She asked, for clarity, though she kept talking instead of giving him a proper chance to respond, "Why would you change your coat?"

"I don't know. Change is good, isn't it?" he said, shrugging. An idea came upon him, as an excuse to perhaps get her at least near an optician. "How about you help me pick something, when we get back home?"

She pursed her lips for a split second, thinking for a moment before shrugging and simply agreeing with his suggestion. Rin had no idea there were ulterior motives behind his idea, "Sure, if that's what you want."

"Great," Takumi said, grinning at her when she agreed. Surely, if they were to go out and enjoy themselves, he could lure her to an optician and she couldn't argue too much...

Smiling gently, she leaned over to plop her head on his shoulder. She often forgot about their height difference, and sitting beside him made that difference even harder to remember. This was comfortable, though. She liked it.

He leaned his head against Rin's almost as soon as she put her own on his shoulder. He said nothing, preferring to just enjoy the moment.

In the silence of the car ride, she seemed to relax, dodging her mind away from what had transpired at the warehouse. Instead, her mind drifted to the night before and she squeezed his hand as her face flushed. Quickly, she buried it in his shoulder and the coat he was choosing to replace. Subtly wasn't fond of her, lately.

Takumi seemed amused with her actions and how adorable she really was, despite the Toromaki exterior. He brought up the hand which was free to stroke at her hair, gently.

Rin found herself nuzzling into his touch without question or thought. Instead, she settled for remaining like this until the car came to a stop outside their hotel. Smiling into the rearview, the Death Meister merely waved a hand at them in lieu of saying bye, leaving them to climb out and head up to their room on their own.

Takumi said a quick thank you to the meister as he got out of the car, standing by the side of the road waiting for Rin to do the same after.