(expecting, GM permission for thread!)

Well. He hadn't done anything like this in a while.

Rei felt a thrill of adrenaline rush through his lean form, even as he rushed through the prepared arena. He was an okay shot, definitely enough to qualify at the range, but not as good as many of his fellow drop troopers. But he knew his assets: Hare athleticism, and his senses, which were exceptional even among his clannmates.

The arena was a large one, and while it was padded, it was done with enough artistry to not detract from the atmosphere of the arena. Unlike training arenas he'd been in before, which tended to favor either extreme realism, or simply practicality, this one had an almost game-like quality (as appropriate), with details a bit exaggerated, obviously fake, but more entertaining for that.

Cover grew more dense. Rei slowed, holding his pistol in both hands, moving cautiously forward now. He wore his Hare clothing, urban camo greys mixed with some definite flairs in red and white. Even in a competition, one had to look good, after all. His pale eyes darted here and there as he looked around for opponents.

It was perhaps an intense first few minutes when Mariko seize the opportunity to cap as many zones as possible and look like a star while doing so. However, as the battle dragged on with light guns firing in each direction and each zone needing a lot of aggression to maintain, Mariko found herself increasingly out of her element. She was still dressed in her outfit of choice for the event but had long given up her heels fifteen minutes in the event. Running around in them on uneven terrain made of foam and rubber mats was just an accident waiting to happen.

As Rei was surveying the grounds fo any potential opponents, he could catch Mariko hobbling along and favouring the 'edge' of the arena where the walls could be found. She had her shoes in one hand and her blaster in the other.

Spotting Mariko, Rei first smirked, then frowned as he considered the pros and cons of unceremoniously capping his lover. There weren't no pros; getting one up on her for once might be a welcome change. But the pros of approaching her seemed like they could be much higher.

Well. She enjoyed games. This certainly was a game.

Rei altered his course, his athletic jog taking him quickly over to where she navigated the edge of the arena, especially as she seemed hindered by her footwear. His own blaster was held in both hands. "Bayushi-san! Hey! Truce!" He called as he drew close, hopefully loud enough to reach her and have her recognize his voice without alerting anyone else. His grin flashed in the pale light of the arena, his pale eyes glinting at her.

Mariko could eventually hear the approaching jog on the soft around as Rei got closer. Her Scorpion alert senses went up and she quickly snapped around to point her pistol at Rei. She looked at him with a bold gaze, wondering if she should take the offer. All of this was a game, wasn't it? She was sure she could score some quick points by taking out Rei, putting herself to earning the top publicity of the evening. Sorry, nothing personal...was the typical excuse, wasn't it?

However, there were a lot of people she wasn't familiar with here and she did trust Rei out of everyone who participated. She could use a breather, if for just a moment. Her gun slowly lowered and she favoured him with a small smile. "Hey, Usagi-san. Sorry about that. I thought...well, I thought you were really into this for a moment. We probably have a better chance if we stick together right? Especially, if everyone here is only out for themselves."

Rei halted as he suddenly found himself under Mariko's gun, but he waited until she relaxed. He lowered his as well. "It's fine." He said shaking his head with a smile.

"You and me, teaming up? I like the sound of that." He flashed a grin at her, eyes trailing down, back up... and then back down to her feet with a frown. "Let's stick together."

He glanced around, eyes narrowed. "Maybe we should find some cover. Sit for a moment. That'll be easier with two of us." He looked back at her. "You okay to move a little more? Need a hand?" His eyes were sympathetic. Foot injuries could be painful to move on.

"Good, I could use a break from tensing up and watching my back all of the time. I'm sure I don't need the shortened lifespan all over just a silly game. I've already figured that I should stop running and start playing smarter." She gave a shrug, sounding rather nonchalant with her participation here.

She touched her collar for a moment to have a holographic display appear on it. It did have her 'vitality' number on it, which was slowly counting down due to her not solely contesting a zone. That was obvious with Rei next to her. However, she had more than enough time to spare for a talk, so long as nobody thought it was a good idea to start shooting.

"I can move just fine. Let's find a place to lay low for a bit. Maybe after everyone narrowed themselves down enough, maybe we could ambush a few to take them out." She said with a smirk, it seemed like a very Scorpion idea. "I think there might be a spot in the forest we could hide for a bit?"

Reminded, Rei called up his own numbers, noting them similarly counting down. He shrugged. There were definite benefits to teaming up, anyway, and not just that he liked spending time with Mariko. "I'm in." Rei said, giving her a nod, holding his pistol low, ready to bring up and fire. "An ambush is a lot easier with two than one. Harder to sneak up on us, too."

Glancing around, Rei nodded again. "Okay. Lead the way. I'll watch your six." He flashed her a quick playful grin at that.

Once they started to move, in whatever formation, he'd speak again. "So, with some luck, maybe it'll be down to just the two of us." He clicked his tongue, teasing gently. "Wouldn't that be something?" A quick glance, just to judge her reaction.

"I like the way you think, R...Usagi-san." She caught herself quickly and sought to bury the evidence with a muted smile. "I suppose wouldn't be exactly our first team-up, would it? Here's hoping that it doesn't in disaster."

She looked around and began to walk toward the 'forest' area of the area, being sure to take the route that would likely have the least amount of participants in the area. While she was sure that being out of contesting zones would only decrease their vitality numbers, she would rather avoid attention until they were in a better position. She would stick to the shadows and look back at Rei with a curious glance. "Just so we're clear, you're watching our six and not my six, right?"

Either way, the proposition brought a chuckle out of her as she considered the outcome. "That would be something. You know, I did hear of an urban rumour that some years ago, there was a competition that ended with two survivors..."

Rei shrugged. "I would say that our previous team-up was a success. I don't see why this one wouldn't be as well." The quick twitch of his lips revealed that Rei had caught her little slip.

He followed her through the terrain, gun drawn, eyes alert. It was actually a good match for their skills. Mariko up front could move carefully and quietly, while Rei could safely keep an eye out and dash from cover to cover with her on point. "Of course." He said, smirking playfully. In fact, he was good at watching more than one thing at once.

Pausing a moment after she spoke to make sure they were covered, Rei hurried ahead to catch up to her again. "Oh yeah? I'm not familiar. What was it?" Another quick glance around, and then he looked at her, eyebrows up encouragingly.

"There are a few tiebreakers in the game to ensure there's only one sole survivor but apparently one time two players managed to find themselves with the exact vitality points at the end of the game. Even with all the tie-breakers calculated, they couldn't find a way to determine the final winter. I don't know how they did it, not many people do. Still, it's worth considering the possibilities." She looked at him curiously, wondering if she could plant that proposal in his thoughts.

The upsides of not walking in footwear at least allowed Mariko to stay relatively quiet as the walked, not that her outfit was going to help her in any way to maintain stealth. She would eventually take them to what seemed to be the edge of the 'forest' with much of the ground laid with artificial turf of tall grass. There was the occasional structure with long hanging branches with neon leaves to make the 'trees' of the zone. It wasn't so dense that it would hide them indefinitely but perhaps provide them with encounter cover to hide from their opponents.

"...I think this might be a good spot for now." She said as she moves up to a large tree to kneel by it and gestured that Rei could the nearby structure for cover. "At least, I don't think anyone on the other side should see us. Anyone silly enough to pass by here should be easy pickings."

Rei met her gaze, nodding to show he understood. "Hmmm. That would be quite the puzzle for the judges, huh?" He smiled. "Seems like it would take quite the creative mind to actually make something like that happen." He held her gaze just a moment longer.

Despite the level of awareness they had to maintain, it was almost peaceful. Rei's gaze briefly went upwards, looking at the hanging branches, such as they were. Really, Rei was as comfortable around trees like this as real trees, the neon lights reminding him of some of the flashier districts.

Nodding, Rei took up position as she suggested, crouching low behind the cover. "This looks good." He tilted his head, looking back at her, next to the large tree. "You're pretty good at this, you know. One of your roles prep you for it?"

"Either that," she smirked back at Rei before giving a hapless shrug, "or a bit of dumb luck. I don't think the players knew exactly what they did to make it happen or they were sworn to secrecy about it. Some people say that they were accidentally double stamped on the same number and were really sharing the exact same vitality numbers, kind of like fabled twins...Others say that they managed to bring a hacking terminal with them and hacked their collars so that it would sync exactly. Another story says that they probably shared a soul in a previous life."

She snorted at that possibility and shook her head. "That one is probably least likely. It doubtful a game could read your soul."

"I've had some training," she smirked. "Some required me to run around in heels and others did have me picking up a weapon or two. Well, mostly my last few roles. I guess they figured after my run with serials, my superiors thought I might do better with action movies. Not many saw circulations outside of Scorpion spy but you know...Hot Target II and Dark Fortress are some of them."

There was also The Prettiest of Them All too but she wasn't going to mention that travesty.

"So, I know how my way around a safety and I can pull a few good shots on short notice." She gave a shrug on the matter, like it was no big deal. "It's quite obvious to an audience of samurai when someone doesn't know their way around their weapon."

Rei considered that. "I suppose we'll just have to see how our luck turns out, then." He chuckled softly as she shook her head. "If this game can read my soul, I suddenly wonder about some choices I've made. I also wonder if I'm playing it right." He also wondered what it would say, for either of them. He shook his head, dispelling the thought.

As Mariko spoke, Rei split his attention, keeping a lookout for approaching players, but also listening to her. "That's a good point." He admitted. "It's strange what can spoil an illusion. Like I look at this tree with its neon leaves, and that's fine, but seeing a samurai holding a weapon wrong, and that ruins it." Doubtless an actress knew better than he.

Another quick glance around. This was almost like a quiet drink. Except without the drink. And it was public, which quite changed the tenor of things. "So... which role was your absolute favorite? Out of all of them? Your medic?" It was half a guess, half a callback to their most recent meeting.

"Tell me about it," she said with a roll of her eyes. "I'm sure that some Dragon version of this game will likely give us some insight about that. To be honest, I think I've done more meditation today than most of the year. If I'm going to do any soul-reading, I think I'd rather do it over drinks..."

Mariko gave a glance around her surroundings just when Rei did so. She supposed that he was looking for the both of them but it was likely that she should do a little looking for herself. She smiled thinly at him when he would finally return his attention to her. Her low gaze looked at him appraisingly as a tease. "You're not waiting for one of your friends, are you? Other celebrities of note playing in the game, hm?"

She put a hand on her ankle and gave it a casual massage. Mariko would look to the forest once in a while to see if anyone would be appearing for some quick points. "Medical Ops, Unit Go! and Soshi Akane will remain dear in my heart to this day. I still mourn its cancellation to this day. It was the first show I got the starring role, after all."

Although, she wasn't ever going to admit that's where she peaked.

Rei smiled. "I haven't opened that bottle of shochu, you know. I wanted to save it for a special occasion. Soul-reading qualifies." His eyes lingered on hers a moment, strangely intent, trying to convey how much he wanted to share that drink. Soon. Finally.

The question made him chuckle, but there was a tingle in the back of his mind. "Just keeping an eye out." He looked at her more directly then, something clicking. He'd noticed it each time he spoke to her. A worry that his attention might wander, or go elsewhere.

Gently, Rei smiled. "I don't want to let our little impromptu team down." He vaguely waved a hand back and forth between them. "So I have to do my duty and watch." His gaze went back to hers. "But I'm not waiting for someone else. You've got my attention... Bayushi-san." The ever so slight pause before saying her name hinted at the same as her slip earlier.

Slowly, he nodded. "That makes sense. I liked it. It was fun. And you were good." He chewed his lip a moment. "And I'm not an actor, but it makes sense that there'd be something special about your first starring role. Something forming about it, maybe?" He frowned, watching her rub her ankle. "I'm no medic, and I never played one, but I've taken the basic embassy first aid course. Let me give that a try?" A smile played about the corners of his lips.

"I've almost forgotten about that, probably assumed that the bottle would have been consumed after all those meetings that you find yourself in. Is that a bit of restraint showing in your bad habits there? How very generous of you." She said as a smile crept on her lips. "Why would we need the Golden Frog now when you can be my Golden Frog."

"I'm sure they might have their eyes on you." She said as she looked up, wondering if those neon branches were enough to hide away from the general audience who were observing the proceedings. Looking back at him, she gave him something of a careless shrug. "You must be waiting for something. If you have your eye on the prize, you probably should let it get away too easily."

"Thank you..." She said at first regarding his compliment and then tilted her head with a bit of an inquisitive expression. "Is this genuine concern or you wanting to dabble into method acting now? You can't tend to my ankle and sit in cover at the same time."

Rei smiled back. "I'd be pleased to be. Although I can't promise the atmosphere of the Golden Frog. But perhaps we'll find another place equally as pleasant to share it."

He followed her gaze up, looked back to her, gave a tiny nod. Yes, he understood. He'd continue to be circumspect. "I think I can spare a little time befpre making a try for it." Smile became curious frown. "Although... if you think I can't, let me know. I wouldn't want to lose the prize because I became careless, or missed an opportunity." A quick sidelong glance at her. He thought perhaps the prize she spoke of was not for this competition.

Gently, Rei shook his head. "No. I'll have to trust that you can cover me." Holstering his pistol, he moved to her position, kneeling down next to her. "There may be an element of method acting for both of us, but I am actually concerned." His hands moved closer to her ankle, hovering above it, but he didn't touch her yet. "May I?"

"Maybe I might know a place," she said cooly with a shrug of her shoulder. "I think you've earned an upgrade in meeting venues. Especially, after we've done a bit of urban adventuring already. As always, I'd keep an eye on your communicator for a message to pop up. I promise I won't be crying wolf this time."

"I think you've done rather well so far." She tittered before favouring him with a small smile as she brushed a bit of hair behind her ear. "I'm sure you must have some idea of your chances."

There was a moment of hesitation before she eased that caution from her expression. She moved her legs from her and sat more favouring her side, it was a bit awkward sitting on the ground with her current outfit choice. Her pistol was placed on the floor and she extended the leg over for Rei. "I think I might have tried too hard out of the gate until I realized the floor was far squishier than it looked."

"A new venue? I'm intrigued." Rei murmured, smiling. "I'll be waiting for that message, then. Waiting with a fair amount of anticipation, I might add."

The bit of laughter made him flash her a quick grin, ever so brief, before returning to his usual playful smile. "I think so. But, well, it's a new game. And I'm feeling especially motivated to do well." Her reassurance felt surprisingly good, actually, some of that visible in his pale eyes.

Well... Rei was still going to let his gaze trail briefly up the length of her leg as she extended it towards him, flashing her another quick smile. But then his attention focused on her ankle. "I guess they're worried about people falling and getting hurt." Gently, he took her ankle in both hands, one supporting from beneath, the other resting lightly on top, his hands pleasantly warm. "Let me know if something hurts." He murmured as he started to massage, gently at first, wary of aggravating any injury, his fingers lightly pressing into the stocking-clad flesh.

"They are, but kind of putting padding on everything isn't going to catch every situation. At the very least, I'm not injured." She said with an amused look on her face as she took her ankle gently in his hands. Her hands were placed behind her as she leaned back so that he could apply his massage. She would give him a few sound nods of approval as he applied his touches to her ankle. Her muscles were tense initially but nothing a little work couldn't ease. "This does help a bit, thank you...You know, you're quite good with your hands there."