Toromaki, Party of Two! (Painters, Arc/Lani; E)

She squeezed his hand, a reassurance even as she kept the stern look on her face. "Why don't you look at me?" Rin asked again, her voice friendlier this time around.

"Because this is embarrassing." Tamumi mumbled quietly, lifting his, and her hand by extension, a little at the mention of this. "I don't know how it is with you, but I am not used to... This..." Again, he lifted his hand.

Before she said a word, she pulled her hand away from him, gauging his reaction rather than speaking, as of yet.

Takumi looked at his hand for a few seconds before he let if fall to his side. He seemed to relax quite quickly, though he still didn't look at Rin or say anything. Really, when it was all said and done, it didn't really seem like a big deal; while it was happening, though, it and the potential motivation behind it was all he could think about.

"Do you not want me to touch you?" She asked him, not bothering with changing her phrasing. In fact, it actually almost seemed to have been said intentionally to make him feel more awkward.

Takumi got all red again as his face shot down, while he seemed to again get smaller. That was mean! He didn't want to say no because that could be taken the wrong way, but he didn't want to say yes either, since that wouldn't be entirely true; it was just embarrassing, and he wasn't used to it.

After a long silence as she waited for a response, she turned on her heel, moving to walk away from him. Whether he followed or not was his own concern; he'd have to come back to the estate eventually, after all.

Takumi began to move after her as he usually would, following just behind her as he usually would. He was clearly not upset at her by any means. Taking a deep breath, he even went to speak. "R..." He began, but had to try again to actually get the word out, swallowing in between. "Rin... W-Why?" He asked, doubting he could ask the question with more words. He thought it'd still be fairly obvious he was asking why she took his hand.

She glanced back at him from the corner of her eye and nothing more before shrugging, "How else was I supposed to know you were safe and I hadn't lost you?" The answer was simple enough, even if it had been phrased as a counter-question, rather than a proper answer.

"O-oh... Okay..." Takumi stammered out, speeding up to get closer to Rin as she walked. Head turned away and seemingly fighting the urge to fidget with something or other or just simply stop right there, he held out the hand she had been holding before towards her.

Whether she had a sixth sense or it was merely instinct for her to do so, she grabbed his hand as soon as it was in range for her, holding it gently but securely as she walked, moving to return back to the main streets. She didn't doubt for a moment the likelihood of them being jumped by someone connected to the creation of the article, but it seemed more likely with every passing second that they would not pursue them inside of this city. When they returned home, however, she did not doubt the danger of the situation, especially in the areas that the article had mentioned. It was best to be on guard until this situation solved itself. Subconsciously, she gave Takumi's hand a squeeze, a reassurance to herself that he was still there.

Knowing her reasoning behind keeping his hand in hers, Takumi now was a little more comfortable. It wasn't just to mess with him or anything else, so he was a little more comfortable with it. So much so, really, that he squeezed her hand back. Even if it did send his eyes towards his shoes. He'd get used to it... Eventually.

She seemed to visibly relax when he returned the gesture, releasing tension she hadn't been aware was there. A sort of sigh escaped her, silent and barely noticeable, if at all. Walking with him, she made their presence in the town as obvious as one could without directly drawing attention to themselves. Without a word, she brought them into a nearby cafe, taking a seat there before idling through the menu. They needed to eat, and her spot by the window meant that she could see anyone that might pop off as suspicious.

Takumi also looked through the menu, even if he wasn't exactly hungry, and ended up not seeing anything that he'd want. Oh well. He'd just ask for a coffee.

When the server came by for their order, Rin ordered a hot mocha and a small plate of food, letting Takumi order whatever he wanted before the server ran off. Idly, she looked out the window before pulling out her phone and speaking, "Any ideas about the case?"

Takumi ordered his coffee without any food, ending up staring at the table when she asked about the case, thinking. "It looks to me like the person who is behind it is not some random thug. They were able to get into the news agency files. Maybe a group?"

"Possibly," she responded back, seeming to be mulling over the idea, "You'd almost have to have an accomplice for this sort of thing, but we haven't been attacked or pursued yet." Her eyes drifted back to the window, looking out it for a moment before scanning the cafe. Nothing seemed out of place.

"And that means?" Takumi asked, looking at her (finally) with the confusion evident on his face.

"It's more likely a small group or one person," she began to explain, moving her eyes to meet his. Her expression seemed almost bored, but he had been around her long enough to notice that it was simply her usual, cool and collected mask. "It's either that or they don't have the connections to have found out that anyone looked into the newspaper yet."

"Oh, I get it." Takumi said, nodding with a smile. "Did you check that place out to see if they would go after us straight away?"

Rin nodded almost curtly at his question, "I did. If nothing else, doing so should have triggered the trap if there was one."

"I can see why you would be worried for my safety. Thank you." Takumi said, then sipping at his coffee, now that it cooled down a little.

She smiled softly, nodding as she took her own drink; her food hadn't arrived yet. "I don't want you hurt." Rin spoke honestly, earnestly, in a tone just vague enough to make one wonder if there was more intended in her words.

"It is supposed to be my job as a weapon to protect my meister." Takumi said, looking out the window. "Even if my weapon for is not useless, I still feel like it."

"You're not useless." She insisted, reaching a hand across the table to squeeze one of his, "The fact that you have such a unique weapon form just means that most people are useless as meisters to you."