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(It's alright. At this point, just about everyone has roleplayed with Haji, Kat, or both. xD)

She nodded and continued her work as Ryu packed up his things. It didn't take long for her to finish her work, and Kat laid out a canvas and set the carcass over top. Tying ropes here and there, the archer eventually stood up. Now she could drag the deer back over to camp.

Glancing over at Ryu, she saw that he was ready and said, "Alright. Let's go then."

She would make her way to the camp, walking for a while, and responding to Ryu if he would say anything, but otherwise remaining quiet. Eventually they would arrive and Katsumi would blink upon not seeing Haji.

"Hmm... he must... be getting water or wood," murmured the woman. Turning to Ryu, she said, "Would... you like to help me with the meat and cooking dinner?"

Why did Katsumi keep waking up in other places besides Haji's side?

The gods really did like fucking with people, didn't they?

Since Katsumi highly suspected this was another trial and she wouldn't be able to leave without completing it, Katsumi began to investigate. It seemed that there was drought, but to make matters worse, bandits were hording any and all supplies of water. In a few days time, the villagers would certainly die if things continued as they were.

Katsumi waited until nightfall, knowing her stealth and armor would help her blend in darkness. Slipping out of one of the huts, Katsumi would climb up onto a roof and make her way towards wherever the main group (if not all of them) were located. Taking aim, Katsumi would fire three times, before using her musou to travel over to another roof at their other side, and fire repeatedly again.

She was determined to take them all out and not be seen, confusing them by changing directions.

And then shit went seriously down. Instead of just yelling and awkwardness, Haji began to scream and attacked Takehiro (and consequently Yukimura), and Katsumi paled. She had never seen Haji like this and now everyone was getting angry with one another. In fact, Kat was so taken aback that she had no response to Yukimura, instead her eyes widening.

This instantly calmed her down and she took a hesitant step backwards. This wasn't right. This shouldn't be happening. They were the Fantastic Four, after all.

"W... Wait. Guys...!" she began, but then Takehiro lost his shit and her jaw snapped closed.

Darkness began to surround them and Katsumi gasped, moving towards Haji. This was bad. This was really, really bad. And why the fuck was Takehiro yelling shit about them being gay and so upset about it? What the hell?!

"W-Why does... it even matter to you?" exclaimed the woman. Scared by the dark energy, Katsumi would create a powerful whirlwind around herself and Haji, acting as a shield that would repel anything thrown at them, or try to, anyway. She again shouted, "It's not like I lie for fun or because I like to...!!!"

Regardless of whether or not she got hurt or not, Katsumi began to cry, tears rolling down her cheeks. She was utterly exhausted from defending them from Tak's attack and the wind slowed. Hands went over her eyes and Katsumi wept, "I-It's not like you would understand, Takehiro."

How could he? There were so many reasons for her to lie about her identity, both to protect herself and being practical, and because she was emotionally and psychologically quite damaged. It's not like one could just easily explain that to someone, especially with the limited and circumstantial encounters Takehiro and Kat had had together.

And then suddenly heat surrounded them and Yukimura was more than mad. He was pissed, and Katsumi felt really guilty. The man was one of the few she trusted, and now he was angry, and everyone was upset and getting injured by crazy-ass powers, and it was all of her fault!

"I'm s-sorry, Sanada-san! I... I didn't mean..." she hiccuped, before beginning to wail, hunching over and crying because so much sadness. "I didn't m-mean to hurt anybody! None of you! N-Now or... or ever!"

She grabbed the bow from her back, ready to kill whoever it was trying to "execute" her boyfriend. But before she could fire, a dark tendril wrapped around her ankle and flung her up, before slamming her onto the ground. Kat groaned from the impact and then suddenly Haji was thrown against her. While it certainly hurt, in a way it made things easier. Taking a hold of Haji, the woman grit her teeth and created wind sickles to slice the tendrils, before aiming to shoot at the one who had attacked them.

Wind whirled around them, acting as a shield, and Katsumi shouted, "I'LL KILL YO-"

But suddenly she stopped and the wind currents slowed. Was that... Yukimura and Takehiro? Her narrowed eyes widened and confusion was written across her features, eyebrows knitting down.

"Sanada-san? Take...hiro?" she asked, voice more like a squeak now. Kat glanced over at Haji. "W-Wha? I... I thought that... you were being... k-kil...-"

Of course, there wasn't much time to really discuss it or for her mind to wrap around the situation, before suddenly her ass felt like it was on fire. Because it was! "EEP!"

A strong gust of wind lifted the two up, before crashing back down away from the fire, and Kat was yelping in pain BECAUSE THAT FUCKING HURT! Hakama sufficiently charred and butt a little roasted, Katsumi was about to begin yelling like everybody else when her brain caught up to speed with the situation. Everyone was saying her name, her real name... even Takehiro. And all of them had powers and everybody but Haji seemed super pissed.

If there was ever an oops moment, this was it.

"Uhhh..." was all Kat could really manage, as she was bug-eyed and stepping backwards, shrinking down. She really, really wished she could have disappeared out of existence in that moment, and Kat gulped heavily, cheeks red as a beet. Nibbling on her bottom lip, Katsumi glanced about nervously, "W-Well..."

With all of this hitting her at once, Katsumi felt distressed and reacted defensively. Breathing in deeply and chest expanding, the woman pointed at Takehiro and exclaimed, tears brimming in her chocolate hues, "WELL, WHY WERE YOU TRYING TO HURT HAJI-KUN THEN!?!?!? ALL I SAW WAS SOME GUY ABOUT TO POUND HIS HEAD IN WITH A FUCKING SHADOW HAMMER-THING!"

She then turned to Yukimura, pointing at him, and continued shouting, "AND... AND YOU WERE JUST STANDING THERE!"

Both of her arms flung up, waving a few times, before falling to her sides. "I THOUGHT HE WAS ABOUT TO BE KILLED AND SOME OTHER GUY WAS JUST WATCHING FOR FUN! WHAT ELSE WAS I SUPPOSED TO THINK OR DO!?!??! I DIDN'T KNOW!!!"

They shrieked and fell to the ground, hiding in their shells, and at this point Katsumi was utterly convinced she was on some type of psychedelic drug. Maybe it was in the air? That could be possible. Right?

There was no real choice but to go along with it, and Katsumi ran forward, kicking one of the shells right at the other turtle thing. "If you can't fly, don't try!"

It was hot. Fuck, it was hot. Why was it so freaking hot?

Most of Katsumi's armor was off at this point, and she was internally cursing about why in the hell Haji had to pick the desert of all places to do whatever the heck he was doing. Something about spirit training. It was a bit of a blur because she had been half-asleep when he mentioned it.

If it weren't for the breeze she was creating, Katsumi was sure she was going to die from the heat. It was a good thing she picked an Arabian for her horse.

"Ugh. Please... let me almost be there," she groaned, leaning her forehead against Tetsuya's neck and mane.

Upon looking up, Katsumi caught sight of what appeared to be flashes of light, and she suspected it to be Haji. Lightly kicking with her heels, they went towards the commotion.

When getting near enough to make them out (not recognizing the other figures besides Haji at the moment), it appeared there was a spar of sorts. Katsumi wasn't too worried about it and Tetsuya was at a light trot. But her brows furrowed. To her eyes, it was getting a hell of a lot more intense, and they widened at seeing Haji get "in danger." Despite the heat, the woman paled, but then narrowed her eyes sharply.

Jumping off Tetsuya, the woman leaped forward with the help of her musou and quickly concentrated, creating a giant whirlwind. A hammer was about to smash Haji's head in, she was convinced, and some other bastard was just watching. Her Haji getting executed! WHO THE FUCK DID THEY THINK THEY WERE?!?!

"GET AWAY FROM HIM, YOU SONS-A-BITCHES!" shouted the woman, whose whirlwind was suddenly aimed at them full blast. Sand was picked up and tons blew right for the three.

At the very least, Takehiro was going to become a sand snowman. Oops.

Katsumi listened in silence at Shou's response, staring at him for a little bit before looking back up at the sky. The hat helped shield her eyes, for the archer couldn't afford for them to be damaged, after all. Pursing her lips, Kat nodded and murmured, Ah, I see."

He asked the same of her and Katsumi blinked. Did she? Would she even do it? Kat nibbled on her bottom lip, contemplating quietly for several moments before giving a slow response, "Hm... I only really... started pondering over it... now, actually. So... I'm not sure. Maybe... if Haji-kun would go."

She would end that with a nod and flutter her eyes closed, listening to the breeze and the sound of the ocean. It was soothing, and before Katsumi only really relaxed if Haji made her.

"But... I'm not sure where I would go. I haven't even seen all of our homeland yet..."

The woman couldn't help but agree, and nodded her head, before relaxing and laying on the sand more comfortably.

"Mm. I suppose... it very well could."

Turning her head, she stared at the sea and was silent for several moments. It was such a beautiful blue, and she began to ponder about life at sea. The ocean was so pretty she noticed now that Katsumi had been forced to rest and really take a good look at and appreciate her surroundings. She had always been observant, but never really viewed things for an aesthetic purpose.

Inhaling, making sure to not do so too deeply because of her healing rip, Katsumi said, "I wonder... what life on the sea is like, Shou-san. I never really noticed before but... it's... really... pretty, I think."

She glanced over at him. "What do you think? Would... you ever go on... a ship? If... the opportunity arose, that is?"

Hidenori caught Katsumi staring at him, but she didn't really notice until after he spoke, the girl being snapped out of focus. His hand seemed to search his face and the man grew panicked, and Katsumi blinked and sweatdropped, proceeding to blush at realizing that she had been staring at him and that that was probably pretty awkward.

"Uh... ah... n-no! Not at all!" exclaimed the woman. She coughed and glanced away, brown hues evading his. Her blush only grew more heated. "I... I was just... looking for similar features you share with Haji-kun... S-Sorry..."

Wanting to really avoid a super awkward pause, Katsumi glanced up and caught sight of a carriage. She pointed it out and hurriedly added, "O-Oh look. A c-carriage! We... We should probably t-track it down to get that r-ride, right? Ahem."

Katsumi nodded a couple of times, answering Hidenori, "There is no question in my mind. No doubt... whatsoever."

Hands and arms slipping into the sleeves of the black kimono and crossing over her chest, Katsumi followed after the tall man. "Alright, Hidenori."

She was at his side, every so often glancing up at him. Katsumi searched for similar facial features between Hidenori and Haji, curious to find any. The hair and eyes were different, and so it made it not so obvious that the two were siblings, but... Katsumi saw very small similarities, Haji's face memorized within her mind. It both entertained and pleased her to search Hidenori for traces of Haji, and, instead of feeling nervous, Katsumi felt rather warm around him, a brother of her lover. Family.

Was... he kind of like her family too now? All Kat ever had was Father before, with her mother dying when she was born. She was with Haji and Hidenori was his brother, so... was there any relation there at all? The woman recalled hearing about in-laws with marriage. While not really knowing exactly what in-laws were, she had the most vague idea. Was that relevant to her? Katsumi blinked and pondered over this, not really sure how it all worked, and her plump lips pursed.

How curious, it was.

Kat really didn't see the big deal about it. The subject seemed to upset so many people. Shou. Haji. But with how Katsumi was raised, fighting for money and taking and even killing criminals just didn't seem off-putting to her. Sure, she wouldn't kill some random villager or something, but... what was so terrible about killing for money? Why was it such a horrible career?

There would always be crime, always be a need for stopping criminals, always be war, suffering, death. To think otherwise was foolish, in her opinion. And since Kat was trained to fight and to kill, to take on the kind of work meant to help deal with such, it would be counter-productive for her to stop earning money and to not do what she knew so well and was so good at. It gave her good money and it was where her skills were.

But it seemed to upset Shou (and her Haji), and, per usual, Katsumi ceased talking about the matter. There was no point in doing so, as it would only create conflict and further put her and her career on the spot, and there was little else Katsumi disliked more.

The realist nodded and pointed ahead. "Of course. Where the road goes down... Down the hill, the inn is just a little beyond. We shall be there very soon, Yamabara-san."

Katsumi nodded. Their situations were different, but they both knew what it was to be oppressed, and both had met great people as of late.

"As have I," murmured the woman, as she finished getting out the blood in her hakama. She wrung it out and hung up the clothing to dry. "Life... it used to be only about surviving. Going... day by day... doing what was needed to eat... to live. Maybe now it is still the same, but... since... since I met particularly... one person... it feels... different, somehow. Like... there is something beyond just surviving life. That... being happy is actually... a possibility."

Katsumi stared at the water below her, gaze growing distant for several moments. There was a lot running through her mind right then and she mentally left the physical location, thoughts drifting off. Haji ran through her mind, the predominant one in making her have this revelation. But there were others who had shown her kindness she never thought possible, and Katsumi swallowed, fighting back tears of appreciation and relief.

Blinking them back, the woman nodded at Jina's words and quickly removed her wrap, submerging herself in the water to clean herself, both physically and emotionally. But the scars were still there, physically evident across her old lashes on her back, especially with her wrap gone. Going beneath the water, upon emerging, Katsumi looked over to Jina and nodded.

"Of course, Jina-san. It is really... nice to meet other women like... like us."