Shibuya patiently waited for Itaku's reply, his counter. She was focused on him, wholly, watching every minute movement and twitch, but that didn't mean her Centipede's were.
From the back of her head, the constant drum of the Azamushi morphed from mundane chatter to an alert– Not a threat, but certainly headed for her. They only confirmed it as Michiya closed in on the establishment.
"Twelfth Division, Fourth Seat, Michiya, identified. Entering,"
Turning in her seat, Shibuya propped her arm over the back of her seat, light glare meeting the young man while he approached.
Were it anyone else she may have turned them away, lesser seats often only bothering her for ridiculous problems they could handle themselves had they any sense. But Michiya, for the short time she's been watching him and the other high seats, warrants her actual attention.
She's about to respond, lips moving to speak, yet she's swiftly cut off by her subordinate.
And that does it.
Her face goes slack, her posture loosening. She can't hear his rambling, cotton filling her ears, eyes glazed over, her brain effectively breaking from the simple insinuation. It being spoken directly to her face rather than behind cupped hands and quiet whispers is what does it, she thinks, hearing it so blatantly stated that her honest business venture with a…. peer, could be misconstrued as a date. A romantic outing. An illicit meeting. between lovers!
Horrific! Absolutely horrific!!
Certainly the thought of settling down, producing an heir for her clan, has been a topic she has tread upon before– Just not ever with- Well, no, that's a lie, the thought had crossed her upon their first meeting, he's good looking, but not since has she….
She cannot allow that train of thought to continue.
Shaking her head she pulls herself out of the vacuum of space she almost allowed herself to be swallowed whole by, tuning back in to Michiya's rambling.
Before he can continue further, the small woman raises her palm to him, her other hand brought to pinch the bridge of her nose, her face scrunching back to its usual scowl as if it had never left in the first place.
"Enough, boy." her voice, for all she seems calm, wavers and croaks even with the short words. Briefly she turns back to Itaku, offering him a small nod, then lifts herself out of her chair. "Do take your time considering my offer, Captain Ōhei,"
Reaching into the sleeve of her shihakusho, Shibuya pulls a string of coins with slightly, mistakably, shaky hands, and places them on the counter, not bothering to check how much she knew she was overpaying them.
What really, truly, gives away her emotional state in that moment is the same hand she had pulled the coins out with outright grabs Michiya by the collar, yanking him along behind her as she exits the building, not releasing him until they are out of the alley completely.
Shibuya stops just short of the main street, taking a deep breath.
"You," she begins, not looking at Michiya.
"Absolute,"
"Brat!"
"We were not on a date! We were not! You stupid little– You absolute brat! To insinuate that he and I were– that we– There is! Was! I-Is!! Nothing going on between he and I!"
To be screeching more than once in a day was not, and is not, something Shibuya ever expected to find herself doing. Least of all about a topic she thought herself immune to. The levels in which she both over and underestimated herself are utterly confounding… And annoying.
Her voice breaks as she finishes her therapeutic screaming session, her chest heaving as she once again comes back to herself.
However, she moves to speak again, and what comes out could only be considered a rasp.
".... What did you want, again?"
