Polar Opposites, Half of the Time (Haruna)

[Azai Mana]

Her original objective in in the region completed, Mana made a judgement call to further explore Joetsu. Her travels brought her to a quaint trading town on the northeastern end of Echigo, a stone's throw away from Date territory. Certainly a questionable move to be so close to a potential warzone, though if fighting did happen up here, Mana could simply slip away in the snow.

Gods knew she was white enough to pull that one off.

Upon entering the town, the ex-enforcer found herself walking toward what sounded like a packed tavern. Opening the door and poking her head inside, she confirmed that it was loaded to the brim, mostly with locals and Uesugi soldiers, though a couple spots remained free. Convenient. Deciding to take a load off, Mana shuffled and slid through the crowds, finding a nice, quiet seat in a corner. She leaned her weapon up against the wall and sat down, scooting her seat closer to the spear, and coolly ordered a warm meal and sake when the next waitress came by.

The door popped open again around the time Mana received her requests.

[Kobayashi Rin]

Rin had been hanging out in the little trading town for a while when Mana arrived, mostly just walking around and chatting peacefully with villagers, making sure to get in any trouble, or at least doing her best to avoid it. She was glad for the calm. She was a survivor, not really a fighter, and though she often found battles fun and exciting they got a bit taxing, especially when you weren't godlike in stature like 'big boss'.

Not too long after Mana had located the most popular -- and only -- tavern in town, Rin decided to head that way herself. She was feeling a bit hungry, and thought she might try to 'dine and dash', since she was fairly short on cash. Entering the tavern, she nonchalantly brushed off several flirts thrown her way by some of the men and walked right on through, gently pushing aside those who didn't politely step out of her way. Though, the tougher and meaner looking ones, she just maneuvered around. She couldn't seem to find an open seat, and after a while got a stressed look on her face; eyebrows furrowed and lips curled downward in a small frown. Eventually she decided to steal a chair from one of the tables, pulling it out and spinning it around before plopping herself onto it firmly.

She had done this, rather unknowingly, right next to the vibrantly white girl who had just received her order. It was mainly so that she could have a seat to herself and not have to talk to anyone, but for some reason she had managed to be in almost disturbingly close proximity to Mana; even comically so, still without even realizing the girl was there. Rin's face now returning to it's normal, cool look with a slight smile attached, she turned it to scan the room, looking for a waitress. It was now that she finally spotted the girl that she had encroached upon. She had turned her head to the side just enough to see a strikingly albino young thing, and as she spotted the girl Rin almost seemed to start a little. She got control of herself quickly enough, and simply cleared her throat before speaking in a collected tone that sounded forced ontop of one that wanted desperately to laugh at her own blunder, "Oh my... Apologies, I forgot to ask if I could sit here first. How rude of me."

((OOC: Sorry, I'm kinda sleepy right now. Hope this is good enough for you to work with!))

[Azai Mana]

While savoring her rice wine in peace, Mana heard a thud next to her. Someone had taken the seat by her side. Curious as to who'd intrude on her peace, she glanced sidelong to see a tan-skinned woman wearing charcoal black hair... An impressive contrast to Mana's own snowy flesh and shock white locks, she noted subconsciously. At that time did the girl seem to realize who she'd sat next to, catching her somewhat off-guard before she made an effort to clear her throat, speaking.

Mana simply looked away from the girl, picking up her cup of sake once more and bringing it to her lips. "It's fine," she insisted before sipping down the cup's contents and setting it before her, ready to pour the next one. "You were expecting to sit alone, I take it."

[Kobayashi Rin]

Rin waved over a waitress as she heard Mana speak, quickly ordering some dumplings before returning to what conversation she could manage. "Well, yes. But I didn't expect to be so rude... I really wish this place wasn't so crowded sometimes. If you'd prefer to sit alone I'll remain quiet." The tone of Rin's voice was that of someone saying something final, as she was assuming that this was in fact the case. Internally, of course, Rin was excitedly bubbling over the situation, giggling in her head about how ridiculous she must look and thinking that she was clearly meant to talk to this albino woman.

As the waitress finished taking her order, Rin examined her silently as she walked off to the kitchen, smiling to herself for some reason. As the waitress disappeared from sight through the door to the kitchen of the tavern, Rin's eyes returned to Mana, examining her in a similar fashion, seeming quite interested in her stark white looks. Interested in the girl in general, for that matter. Disregarding her previous claim to remaining silent, Rin spoke up once more, "So, where are you from? Any reason to be in town, or are you just passing through like most?" Rin's voice was soft and kind as she asked questions that really weren't any of her business, but she was feeling curious today and she just couldn't shake the desire to talk, especially since she had been quite the bored girl all day.

[Azai Mana]

From the apparent inquisitiveness of this unknown girl, who Mana deduced to be close to her own age, she guessed that the stranger was bored. Maybe curious. Hard to say for sure. Though Mana hadn't been the talkative type since childhood, of which she could only remember so much of anyway, she knew it would be impolite to simply disregard her curiosities.

Mana native took a whiff of her sake, then set it back down to pick up her chopsticks. As she investigated her food, she spoke clearly to the girl, despite not making further eye contact. "I'm from Omi. I found myself in the region and wandered a little. I will be setting out for home after tonight." She paused to take a few bites of her warm food. The thought was on her mind; she highly suspected that her newfound acquaintance may have been curious about her distinctly different colors. Wondering if this was the case, Mana offered a prompt. "You're been looking at me for a while. Is something wrong?"

[Kobayashi Rin]

"Omi? How far away is that?" Rin was enjoying the pleasantries of conversation much more than she normally would, mostly because, in comparison to sitting around all day, it was fairly interesting. The girl she wound up talking to didn't seem too interested in speaking, but Rin overlooked that fact for the time being, because she had nothing better to do than talk and noone else looked even remotely interesting. She was fascinated, actually, by the colors of Mana, mainly the pigment of her skin and her eye color. She had never actually seen an albino person before, even in art, and she thought, for whatever reason, it was extraordinarily beautiful.

She suddenly snapped out of her entrancement when Mana spoke up about how long she had been looking at her. She blinked a few times, mostly remaining still with a calm smile on her face, but after a moment she let out a soft giggle. She was certainly being foolish today, first sitting practically on top of some girl in an attempt to sit alone, and then staring at that girl like she was some sort of exhibit at an art gallery. "Oh, no! Nothing's wrong at all, I'm simply a fool. Pay no mind to my mannerisms, please. I just realized, actually, that I have yet to introduce myself! I am Kobayashi Haruna, and though it may be odd I prefer to be called 'Rin'." As she spoke, Rin looked off to the side and examined the crowd of people in the tavern once more, crossing her legs and staring intently at the door to the kitchen, wanting her food to come out soon. "As for why I was staring at you... It's just that I find you fascinating. I've never seen someone with such snowy skin and hair, and those striking red eyes!" Rin cut herself off by giggling again as she realized how strange she might have sounded, spouting admiration at the girl after staring at her so intently. She must have seemed like she was 'coming on' to Mana at this point.

[Azai Mana]

"Omi is roughly in the center of the country. It is ruled by the Azai clan, and is directly west of Mino, Oda territory," Mana clarified in response to the girl's distance question. Glancing over at her dinner guest, she took note of further details. Though her skintone was close to the majority of Japanese natives, her facial features gave her away as being of foreign descent. However, she seemed to speak the language with natural fluency; perhaps she was born and raised here? A distinct, logical possibility, though Mana would refrain from prying for the moment. On top of the curious difference in descent, she had green eyes that, even in the dim light of the tavern, shined like hunks of jade. An attractive trait to be sure. In a sense, the girl could be called exotic, much like many had called the daughter of Azai herself.

When it came to the girl - now introduced as Kobayashi Haruna, or Rin - explaining why she had apparently been ogling Mana, she 'hm'ed in acknowledgement. Then came Rin's flattering explanation of the ex-enforcer's physical attributes. Though Mana had often been subjected to words of praise, both flowery and lewd, they were from criminals, low-lifes and corrupt souls, all during her time as a virtually emotionless husk. Now though, these words came off as less perverted to her ears, and potentially more genuine. Whatever the intent behind them was, Mana did not know, though she suspected it was harmless. She hardly noticed the quiet giggle and small smile coming to her face.

"Thank you, Rin... Perhaps it's hard to believe, but I am infact a native of this country," Mana stated, giving her new acquaintance a moment to react before continuing. "My skin, hair, and eyes were given to me by my mother; she's partially German, a people from the West, or so I was told." 'Told' was technically true. Her memories told her enough details of her childhood, including the heritage that she gleamed. She hoped that Rin would not ask for further info on her blood, for she could only provide so much. Allowing her to digest the info, the snowy girl took more time to indulge calmly in her meal, savoring the flavor, then washing it down with sake. A content sigh escaped her moist lips, which she dabbed off with two fingers before returning her attention to Rin, politely waiting for her to continue, and listening if she spoke.

[Kobayashi Rin]

As Rin listened to Mana explaining where she came from, and that it was somewhere in the center of the country, she got a bit of an embarrassed blush on her face. In truth, she had no idea where that was; she never really payed attention to geography and had a horrible sense of direction. When she had asked how far away it was, she meant it in terms of actual distance, kilometers and such, but she simply nodded as if she knew what Mana was talking about. "Oh, alright!~ Gotcha."

After speaking, Rin was about to look back at Mana again, but she noticed the same waitress from earlier coming out of the kitchen with the dumplings she had ordered. She bit her lip in excitement, she was practically starving having neglected to eat breakfast. Because of her new focus of attention on the waitress that was bringing her food, Rin didn't notice the smile that crossed Mana's face, however she did catch the little giggle, which made her happy to hear. It was a pleasant sound, though quiet. She was at the point of staring wide-eyed at the food she was about to receive, her mouth hanging open a bit, when she heard the beautiful Mana mention that she was a native of the country. She turned her head, though her expression didn't change physically -- it's just that now it was more out of surprise than desire. "What? No way!~ But I've never seen anyone like... Wait, I already said that... Still, there's no way! Are you serious?" Rin was giggling again by the time she finished speaking. She managed to quiet herself down, taking her dumplings from the waitress before listening intently to whatever Mana had to say next.

After Mana finished speaking, Rin nodded again and smiled sweetly at her. "Oh, German~ I've heard a little about the other peoples of the world. I heard germans had a tendency to be very pretty, so I shouldn't be surprised, huh? " She asked, continuing to giggle softly. "My parents were from India, actually. They were supposedly great adventurers, but they ditched me at an orphanage 'cuz they were scared of the responsibility." Rin said this as if it was a completely normal thing and, in fact, it actually was, but her tone sounded so nonchalant. It was like she had no feelings on the matter at all, with how she seemed to joke about it. "Say, speaking of countries abroad, what about this one? What do you think of the war going on in our home?" She didn't know why she asked the question, she was really just trying to continue her conversation with the interesting girl she had met. She definitely had taken a liking to the girl, and she had heard questions on feelings about the war asked more than a few times before so she gave it a shot. She hoped, in the back of her mind, that asking would not prove to be a mistake as she bit into one of her dumplings and chewed thoughtfully.

[Azai Mana]

Mana found herself amused by Rin's mannerisms and commentary, as well as by her questions. She had to bite back a giggle as the girl displayed surprise and confusion about her being a native. Listening intently to what followed, she learned that Rin herself was Indian, yet deposited in an orphanage. The former enforcer imagined it might've been an odd way to grow up, being raised alongside those whom had lost their families to war or crime. Not that she had any room to make comparisons, considering.

Rin seemed to be a ball of questions, curiosities, mixed energy and - if Mana could be honest with herself - cuteness. Certainly an enjoyable change of pace compared to most of the people she knew now, a fact that she hoped might continue to change in positive ways. When asked about how she felt about the wars occuring here, the Omi native knitted her fingers together and rested them under her chin, elbows against the table's edge. "I believe it has gone on for long enough. Those in power, respectable as most of them are, seem to refuse to make amends and work together for the sake of the land. It's deplorable and unfortunate, as they're ultimately making life difficult for everyone." She paused to indulge in more of her meal and sake, taking the opportunity to think of how to continue. When she did, she fixed Rin's gaze with her own. "What do you think, Rin?"