Just as quickly as it had come, the brief moment of peace between the two of them which he brokered with ice cream faded in the sounds of children yelling as they ran frantically to the ice cream truck behind them. “Oh boy, just the thing to make any situation better… kids,” Kyohei thought to himself in a slightly annoyed inside voice. The Uchiha did not like children. He never had, even when he was one himself. That isn’t to say that he thought all children were bad, but he couldn’t remember the last time he had ever had to interact with children and it being a pleasant experience. There was always something with kids

Kyohei’s gaze would turn upwards away from the stampede of children that were rushing past him like their lives depended on it after a moment, taking this time to relocate Kameko. When the Uchiha saw her navigating her way through the sea of children around her he quickly followed suit, relieved to have an escape in sight. Nimbly he slid through the crowd, contorting his body as if he were a burglar trying to avoid tripping a security sensor in order to avoid the unfortunate circumstance of accidentally kneeing a kid while he walked about. He was sure that at least one of the older ones would have probably deserved it though…

After seeing Kameko take a seat on a bench some ways away from the crowd Kyohei would follow suit, taking a seat right beside her. Now that he was finally away from the crowd and settled into his seat, Kyohei would finally get the opportunity to enjoy his ice cream cone. He allowed himself a small sigh before he allowed his tongue its first taste of the treat, taking care to begin removing all of the sprinkles from the cone. It was a ritual of the young man who always had to follow a certain order when eating an ice cream cone. He could not begin eating the vanilla ice cream beneath in earnest until he cleared every brown sprinkle from the white surface. It was something he noticed in himself that he never felt the need to confirm with anyone else. He didn’t know if it was just a quirk of his or if others shared his need to eat certain foods in certain fashions, but it was a part of him.

Kyohei listened to the mysterious girl from Kumogakure as she rekindled the conversation in the same teasing manner that they had spoken earlier. He wondered if it was that she still didn’t trust him after their interactions back in the music shop so she was still pushing him away or if she was just the kind of girl that enjoyed these kinds of games. He was starting to think it was a combination of both, but he enjoyed the games as well, so as long as she intended on keeping the game going he’d play with her. “Hidden talents, hmm?” he repeated teasingly in turn, a sly smirk sitting upon his lips, “If the real secrets were that easy to get out of me they wouldn’t be very well hidden, now would they? As far as my other talents… you don’t get to see those on the first date, princess.” He would cheekily grin her way as if to say ‘the ball is in your court’ before going back to working on his ice cream cone.

---

584 | 5482~

2000/2000: Katon C>B
2000/2000: Ninjutsu C>B

1482 words remain.

Str B-0 > B-1: 700/700
Spd B-0 > B-1: 700/700

82 words remain.

The young woman made quick work of her little frozen treat, and as he answered, she was down to the cone itself. “Oh, is that so?” she replied, her eyebrows lifting. “Let’s see, I get your name on the first date. What new secret might I be trusted with on the second? Your favorite color perhaps?” There was a sparkle in those blue eyes, lending an air of positivity to the mild sarcasm in her voice, as she let his innuendo slide without response. With a crunch she took a bite out of the cone, her eyes shifting from looking at Kyohei to watching the little crowd they had just escaped. Seeing the little everyday interactions between the citizens of Konohagakure was pleasant; people-watching, as some called it, was easy entertainment. She hadn’t really known what to expect when she came to Hi no Kuni. It was not far from Kaminari no Kuni, atleast, not when you considered the distances between the other major nations, but it was, indeed, a different country with its own unique culture. However, she concluded that people most everywhere were more-or-less the same. Kids would scream for ice-cream, and people would have their secrets.

She looked back to Kyohei and considered, ‘Some people’s secrets are just more closely guarded than others.’ There was no doubt in her mind that everyone kept little things hidden, but he was the first she'd met who so obviously did so and about details which she would consider to be trivial things. Did the blatantness of his deception, making such deception more of an omission since there was no trickery involved…besides the false name he threw out to quell her frequent questioning of what his true one was, make him more trustworthy or less than those that hid things under the guise of being open and friendly? It was hard to say, and would probably take some thought for her to reach a conclusion.

As she finished the last bite of the cone, she habitually brushed her palms against one another to knock off any crumbs from her fingers. “Thanks for the ice-cream. I’m going to finish up some shopping before the day gets away. Can I have my headband back?” She held out a hand, palm up to him. If he returned the forehead protector to her, she would stand, and while tying it back on, she’d continue honestly, “It was interesting to meet you.” Her tone would mark ‘interesting’ as a good thing. “I’ll see you around, Kyohei.” If her hitai-ate had been returned to her, for she wouldn't leave without it in hand, she would then offer him a smile before heading down the boulevard, disappearing into the crowd.

Training Element
Suiton: C->B 2000/2000

Remaining: 4912

Training Stats
Speed: C -> C-3 1875/1875
3037
Reaction Time: C -> C-3 1875/1875
1162
Endurance: C-2 -> C-3 700/700

Remaining: 462