Syekren sighed and rubbed his face, feeling the beard he'd been growing. It hadn't been that long since he'd left Sunagakure no Sato, but it had been a while since he'd just given up on shaving and keeping his hair neat. He'd also fished some clothing out of the garbage and found a crude rope to keep his pants up. While he was in Konohagakure no sato, he'd grabbed his eye patch and a few other items that he could carry and brought them to the festival grounds so that he would be able to use them if needed. Among the items he brought, he was currently wearing the eye patch and one of his emerald hued contact lenses. It was weird to cover one eye after having gotten both back, and made it strange for him to tell his depth sometimes, but he would be fine, as long as he wasn't straining to hard.

The homeless looking man scratched his beard and stood up from his sitting position, exiting a tent he'd been sleeping in on the outskirts of the festival grounds. His tattered burlap clothing was looking particularly stained at ratty today, he only wished he had some decrepit shoes to go with the outfit to be easier on his feet. The man tied the eye patch he had around his left eye and shook his head to have the hair fall over it in greasy thick locks.  When this was done, the man coughed and practiced the accent he'd been using to disguise himself. "Iss a festival righ'?" he practiced this a few more times until he was happy with it and headed out of the woods onto the festival grounds, looking around at everything in sight. He'd remembered to stash his coin pouch in his trousers today, so that meant he'd be able to eat. With a smile on his face, the man began to wander from stall to stall, whistling a tune.

338

Kiriya heard about the festival from the villagers one day at the market district. He didn't really decide to go but something kept his mind on the subject. There was nothing to be lost. The good part was that he might actually have some fun for a change. The last few months were extremely busy for him. Going from a mission to mission on a daily basis, helping at home and saving ryo for a new weapon. The festival was a nice change of pace. The only thing he was worried about were the other people. Kiriya didn't know how to socialize in big groups or events like a festival. Kiriya didn't have a lot of friends but the friends he had he charished them deeply.

The decision to go to the festival was made final when he got his clothes and left the house. The festival grounds were located on the outside of the village. It was not close but not that far away either. The trip to there took him about one hour but he enjoyed every bit of it. If he had to be honest, Kiriya didn't notice when the time went by. His mind was busy thinking about what could happen in the next part of the day.

As he was approaching the festival grounds he saw a rugged tent in the distance. As he got close to it Kiriya noticed that a man with an eyepatch was suddenly going out of it. Kiriya thought that it would be a good chance to learn something more about the festival and approached the strange looking man.

"Hello, my name is Kaminari Kiriya and I'm coming from Kumogakure no Sato. I noticed the tent you have there. Doesn't it get too cold at these parts at night? Anyway, I was going to ask if you could tell me a bit more about the festival. We could also go for ramen, my treat of course." Kiriya didn't know why he was acting so friendly all of a sudden. The man that was standing in front of him had this aura coming through, Kiriya thought it was only natural to respond positively.

---

WC - 369

Having thoroughly enjoyed the yesterday’s visit to the festival, Fuyuko decided that she would go for another round. However this time she would like to spend more time participating in the festival part and not roam the outskirts walking back and forth all day to get her mask created for the masquerade. On top of that she was in a mood to express her beauty, she wanted to go for a look that would both express casual, but traditional. So she decided today was a good day to pull out her yukata. The base color of the dress was white, it has a simple flower patterns of which the colors ranged between salmon pink and rose red. She pulled almost all of her hair into a bun, leaving just a little at the front to make a sideways bang frame her face a little bit. The bun itself was held together with two chopsticks. To finish off the dress, although it didn’t fit it at all, she wrapped her kiri headband around the belt that kept the dress itself together.

With her dress finished it was time for her to head over to the festival. Having arrived once more it was just as booming as the day before. The streets were lit up beautifully with lanterns creating a warming and welcoming mood. However after a having only visited a few stands her stomach had already started growl. In her excitement with getting dressed she had completely forgotten to have some food before her departure. She headed over to the first ramen store she could find.

Upon entering the store she saw how crowded it was, she turned away as she couldn’t find an empty table. But just as she turned away the owner beckoned her over to come. He pointed her towards an empty table one wouldn’t be able to spot from the entrance of the store. She ordered her food and went over to the table and awaited the arrival of her food. Having some time left to kill she wondered whom else would be pointed towards her table as she told the owner she doesn’t mind anyone else joining her at the table. Would they be socially active or awkward? Would they be big or small? Formal or casual? In the end, only time could tell.

wc 393

"Ye wot mate?" The homeless looking man turned around to face a young man, little more than four inches shorter than himself. Of course, he'd heard the young man approaching before he'd seen him. He'd started to channel chakra in case the person approaching was an enemy. Seeing that it was just a friendly kid, striding up to the tent of a man who could quite possibly be just some weirdo in the woods, well he gave him the benefit of the doubt. The young man had introduced himself as Kaminari Kiriya. None of that sounded familiar, so the older man relaxed and looked the kid over with one piercing emerald eye. Kumogakure no Sato? That reminded 'Seikatsu' he'd had business in the land of lightning. He would need to make it out there soon enough so that he could return home with his report. With a sigh, the man rubbed his beard , thinking on the offer placed before him. Sure, he had his own money for food today, but saving some money to go and eat on some one else's dime wasn't a bad idea either. The man weighed the options quietly and shrugged to himself, clapping the other on the back.

"Well lad, Ah'll be happy ter tell you about the festival! Iss always best over food come to think of it. Les' git a move on! Wot're we waitin' fer?" The homeless looking man chuckled and pulled his new companion along with him as he walked away from the entrance to the forest. There was much to see in the festival, and most of it the man hadn't seen himself. That wouldn't stop him from eating with someone and regaling them with what he did know about the festival and her grounds. The young man would be pulled along with the scruffy looking one, and should he not pull away, they'd arrive at a ramen shop that looked unnecessarily busy. With a shrug, the homeless looking man looked over towards the owner, and bowed. The owner bowed back and waved them to a table near the back with only one other occupant. "I'unno wot yer wantin' ter eat. But ol' yokai brown over there will just bring us m'special. It's basic'ly Shoyu and Miso bowls, but I mix 'em together." They arrived at the table and the homeless looking man motioned for his companion to sit first, after which he'd sit, looking across at the young woman who seemed beautifully (if not a bit over) dressed for a ramen shop. "Oi, how arr ye?

443|781

The first thing that Kiriya saw in the man sleeping in the tent was his scruffy clothes. The second thing was his accent, which Kiriya couldn't really understand. He had to listen very carefully and then logically connect the words to understand what he was talking about. The man immediately accepted the food offer Kiriya had told him and seemed pretty happy about it. It wouldn't be a wrong guess if someone thought that this man hadn't eaten for a while. After that he started dragging Kiriya to the festival grounds.

Kiriya's idea was that they would go fo a ramen or something equally good. As soon as they arrived on the festival grounds the man immediately found a place where ramen was served. The thing that was bothering Kiriya the most now was that he didn't know the name of his new companion. It seemed that the restaurant owner and the man knew eachother. As they went inside they were quickly presented to a table where a young girl was sitting. The young girl looked beautiful with her dress. The only thing that wasn't matching it was the kirigakure headband which she was wearing like a belt.

"Sorry that we're interrupting you, I think that this was the only table with enough seats. By the way, my name is Kaminari Kiriya and I come from Kumogakure no Sato. It's a pleasure to meet you, this is the first time I've met someon from Kirigakure. I have heard that some of the best swordsmen come from there. But enough talking about me, let's hear something about you." Kiriya didn't know what happened to him, this wasn't his usual behaviour. Kiriya didn't socialize with strangers so easily, one could say that he was quite akward around people he didn't knew but this time was different.

---

WC - 369 + 318
= 687

Even before the food would arrive at her table she would already be accompanied by two others. Both of them were male, however one of them looked about her age, maybe a bit younger. A small smile appeared on her face as she realized they shared the same eye and hair color. The other male looked, older, a lot older, but she wasn't sure if he was physically a lot older. Regardless the man looked like he was going through his midlife crisis. Fuyuko got this feeling because the appearance of the man could only really be described as homeless. He had an unkempt beard, it wasn't too long which suggested he either cut it not too long ago or he had only became homeless not too long ago. Further the attire of the man was something else, she had seen homeless people that had better clothes to wear. It was full of small holes and his pants, if you could even call it that, were kept up because of a rope tied around his waist. Regardless of all that, much like most homeless people, he had a friendly face.

As the pair arrived at her table the homeless man had instantly asked her how she was doing, it made her smile as this was a good indication the man was friendly. The younger male was more formal, apologizing immediately for the intrusion and giving a somewhat proper introduction. Although it was proper it was somewhat short and without having really said anything about himself he had already given the indication he had talked enough about himself, it was a good indication for her that he was not comfortable with socializing with others. Fuyuko would smile kindly to Kiriya before she would answer the two of them.

“Hello, I'm doing very well thank you. I'm Miki Fuyuko and as you have already pointed out, I am from Kirigakure. I have also heard that swordsman fact about my country, however having grown up on a rather remote location of the land, I'm not well known with the lands history. It's the first time as well for me to meet someone from Kumogakure, or anyone that isn't from Kirigakure for that matter. Aren't festivals a wonderful thing for that? They bring people together from all over the world to enjoy themselves in festivities. I think it's a wonderful thing.” At this point Fuyuko's food arrived and because of this she took a small pause from talking and focused on taking the bowl from the waiter.

Having finished receiving the food Fuyuko tunred her head towards the mister with no name. “So what is your name mister? I know your companions name, so now only yours is left to be told. Also what has brought the two of you together at the festival. You two don't seem to family of sorts, how did you meet? Further you have any plans for the festival anything in particular you want to do or will you just roam the streets and see where it goes from there, just like me?” Having finished talking for now Fuyuko started preparing her chopsticks, once that was done she would start eating her ramen.

wc 545
twc 938

The two younger ones seemed to be getting chummy when they'd seated themselves, which was nice enough. It seemed the girl was from the village hidden in the mist, so he was sitting with two ninja. It was rather interesting to think about, but nothing that he would have to mention or join in on. She was right though: festivals were wonderful for bringing people together. Especially one the yokai hosted. What better to really get into the spirit of autumn than a festival thrown by yokai that only happens once a year? Or is it a century? Honestly, this was the first time he'd ever heard about such things happening. Or yokai. He'd definitely need to do more in the way of learning about such things once this entire thing was over. With an inward shrug, 'Seikatsu' noticed the girl's food arrive and when she went to take her own food, there was someone coming almost immediately after with two Shoyu bowls and two Miso bowls. Each pair of the noodle bowls had a third, larger bowl between them on the tray that was empty.

After the food had arrived, 'Seikatsu' took it upon himself to help the server place the bowls on the table in front of where he and Kiriya sat. He made sure to grab them with the towels provided, so that his hands wouldn't touch the ceramic bowls or utensils. Mainly because he didn't want to ruin the appetite of his new companion by having dirtied hands on his meal. When everything was set, 'Seikatsu' bowed to the server, this "ol' yokai brown" and sat back down with his food. He set about pouring half of his two noodle bowls into the larger one, mixing them together with a wooden spoon provided. He quietly broke his chopsticks apart and was ready to dine before he looked up to see the young girl eyeing him and spouting a question. His hawk like stare fell to her, his eyes telling their own story he'd imagine, before he looked back to his food. "I s'pose that was a bit rude o' me, wadnit? They call me 'Seikatsu', meaning 'life' or some'at like that. Ah've a few other aliases Ah migh' be known as. 'Hizencho', for one. But the other names are nae too kind. As for this'n, I'll be honest wit' ya. I juss met 'im. He was kind enough ter offer some food and Ah cannae turn that down can I? As fer the festival, Ah been working on helping a ceramist wit' me mask. Ah've yet to finish though and tomorrow Ah'll need to continue." With that, he quietly went about eating his food, wiping his face with a napkin every so often to keep the food and soup stock free of his beard and face.


484|1,265

Kiriya was very pleased to have met Fuyuko. She seemed to be beautiful with her chestnut brown eyes. He didn't realize that she had the same hair colour and eye colour like him. Kiriya carefully listened when Fuyuko was introducing herself. Immediately after that she asked about the name of the man that was accompanying Kiriya. Kiriya didn't realize it but he too didn't know what his name was. It turned out that his name was Seikatsu. He didn't knew anyone else with that kind of name, maybe he was a foreigner who came from a distant land, or maybe not. That mystery had yet to be discovered.

As Seikatsu was talking Fuyuko's food came and shortly after he stopped their food also was served. Seikatsu order the food for both him and Kiriya. There were two bowls,
one of Shoyu and one of Miso ramen, which by the looks of them looked incredibly delicious. Kiriya's stomach was beginning to hurt and he couldn't wait to try the food. Seikatsu finished talking and started eating. Kiriya followed his example and the three of them sat silently while eating.

Kiriya finished his food and waited for Fuyuko and Seikatsu to do the same. He knew that it was a sign of bad manners if you talk to someone while he's eating, so he sat there waiting patiently.

"I know that we can't be described as friends yet, but would you care to join us while we walk around the festival grounds?" The question was clearly directed to Fuyuko. Kiriya didn't know how she would react but was hoping on a positive answer. It would be far more interesting the three of them to wander around the festival. He knew that Seikatsu wouldn't have anything against this so he didn't bother asking him beforehand. The real reason Kiriya wanted Fuyuko to come was that he was starting to like her. He hadn't experienced something like this in a long time. Everything about her was intriguing, from the way she was talking to the way she had dressed. Kiriya just couldn't turn his eyes off her.

---

WC - 687 + 367
= 1054

OOC - Sorry about the big delay, got stuck up on some IRL things.

Whilst eating her ramen Fuyuko would now and then throw a glance in the direction of the homeless looking man, waiting till he would finally answer her question. Just before he would answer their eyes locked onto each other. His eyes were fierce and sharp, it felt like they pierced right through her. It had definitely made her feel on edge and ready to respond if anything were to happen. The contact was broken and he had started his reply. It was however incredibly hard to follow what the man was saying, his accent and the way he articulated words almost made it sound like the man was speaking his own language. Fuyuko slowed down the rate at which she was eating so she could spend more of her attention on what Seikatsu was saying, if that was even his real name. The fact that he had brought up that he had more aliases, with the look she had gotten before from him, made her quite certain he was not giving his real name. Fuyuko however decided to brush that fact aside, Seikatsu would certainly have his reasons for doing so, and she wasn’t too keen on finding out why.

It came as somewhat of a surprise to Fuyuko that the pair had just met each other, but on the other hand it didn’t; this was after all the power of the festival. The man had finished talking and started to eat his food. If it was up to Fuyuko however she would rather describe it as devour. Regardless the man did keep himself clean, often wiping his beard, which she could appreciate, if only he would take his time eating as a whole. Having stared ample at Seikatsu, she decided to look over to Kiriya, much to her surprise the young boy had already finished his two full bowls of ramen and was just sitting there patiently. Was he too shy to talk to her or Seikatsu or was there another reason for his silence? She would often catch the young boy looking in her direction and when she did he’d quickly look in a different direction as if he didn’t want her to catch him staring in her direction. Because of this the silence became rather awkward for Fuyuko and she decided to up her eating pace.

Once she had finally finished eating and was about to speak Kiriya had already started talking and started to ask her a question. She was invited to join the pair with their festivities today. Fuyuko pondered on the question for a little bit. But with what she had said earlier, she could only really politely accept the offer. “Yes, I would love to join you today. Did the two of you have any plans of going somewhere? Or since you two have only just met as well, have only decided to go and eat ramen up till this point? Regardless I’m free to do anything today, I will just accompany you to wherever we might end up going. So shall we go if we’re all done eating?” As Fuyuko finished giving her reply to the invitation she turned her heads towards Kiriya and gave a gentle warm smile. “Is, or was, something the matter Kiriya? You were awfully quite whilst you were done eating.”

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twc 1497

Once he'd finished eating, the man wiped his mouth with his napkin, as well as his beard. During his eating, his eye had strayed over to his companions. One, being Kiriya, would look over at the other quite often. Not staring as though he were a hawk hunting prey, more as a timid rabbit sniffing for a mate. The man's eye then swiveled over to the girl, beautiful in her own right, but young as well. It wasn't so long ago that he was just as these two were, young inexperienced ninja spending time out and about. Then again, he'd fought the former kage for his first date with her, so there wasn't much he could really say about the current situation. Still, the two of them seemed nice enough, if a bit green. It had occurred to him that the two had finished their food before he had, with Kiriya doing so a long time before 'Seikatsu' himself had gotten halfway through. The kid had a voracious appetite, but if speed was anything to do with it, the mess that was undoubtedly made around his bowl would be astonishing. With a content sigh, the man pulled a pouch from his pocket, placing it on the table.

After a moment, he stood up, busying himself with stacking the now empty bowls in the middle of the table, with anything they used set within them in a stagger order. Meaning the largest bowls would be on bottom, leading to the smaller ones, with the chopsticks in the very top bowl. They were stacked in such a way that they'd be easy to take care of and would not fall over if lifted all at once. With that done, he sat back down, fiddling with a chopstick he'd neglected to put in the bowl for his own reasons. Kiriya made mention of the girl accompanying the two in their trek around the festival. The girl, Fuyuko was her name, had agreed to come with them, asking their plans. If they were being honest, they didn't really have anything to do, nor anything planned. It wasn't until she'd said they should get going that he decided to stand up quietly, grabbing his pouch. "Nah lass, we've not got a thing planned. Ye kin come wit' us. We'll discover things togeh'vah"

When she turned her heard to Kiriya, she smiled and asked if something was the matter with Kiriya, noting how quiet he was after eating. Before Kiriya would speak though, 'Seikatsu' would interject to have some fun before moving from the table. "Iss becoz he fancies you lass, ye haven' noticed?" With a hearty guffaw, he walked from the table to go up to the person who had served them before either of them would get the chance to pay. With a low bow, he opened his pouch to dole out the needed currency for all three of their meals. His pouch was a bit lighter now, but it wasn't money that he really cared about. With a bow to each other, the two turned their own ways. The server went back to put the payment and the generous tip that had been left for them, while 'Seikatsu' went back to the table, flicking the chopstick into the air. "Awright. Les' go ahead and find some'fin to do. Ah'm gettin' bored!" When he turned away, the chopstick fell into place over the top of the other chopsticks, perfectly symmetrical. Mostly.

593|1,858

Kiriya patiently sat and waited for the both of them to finish their food servings. He was constantly looking at Fuyuko but tried to avoid eye contact. Once or twice however, their eyes seemed to meet and Kiriya would suddenly turn his head to the other side whle blushing. If he had been a little more matured he would have knew that it was pretty obvious that Kiriya liked her. But as inexperienced as he was, he continued to sneak a few glazes at her while she was eating.

Fuyuko finished her food relatively fast when compared to Seikatsu, who was still struggling with his. When Kiriya saw his clothes that resembled those of a homeless man, he thought that Seikatsu would be the first to finish the food. He certainly looked like he hadn't eaten for several days. But the patience Seikatsu showed had amazed Kiriya. When Kiriya looked at him he saw the elegant eating manners Seikatsu had. It was strange for a guy like him to eat in that manner.

Fuyuko answered the invitation to roam around the festival grounds with them. Kiriya couldn't be happier because that meant he would spend some more time with her. And he would probably learn something interesting about Fuyuko. He wasn't sure as how to act, the only thing he made sure was not to be too much intrusive. After that came her question, which adressed the quietness of him. Kiriya wasn't sure as how to answer that. It was pretty obvious that it was just a tease, probably intended to spark a conversation. He wasn't sure as how to answer that and blushed when he realized that Fuyuko had seen him watching her.

As he was thinking of a clever answer Seikatsu made that answer for him. While he was speaking with Fuyuko Seikatsu had also finished his food and was now watching them. The answer which Seiktastu gave was that Kiriya had a thing for her. And before Kiriya realized what he had said Seikatsu left to pay for the food. At this moment the two of them were left alone. Kiriya looking at Fuyuko with a blushed face, not knowing what to say. Anything he could say was probably going to be a lie because Seikatsu had told the truth.

"That old man doesn't know what he's talking about. Of course that I don't like you. Sorry, I didn't want to offend you or something like that. What I was trying to say was that Seikatsu doesn't know anything about me. But to be honest, you're the most beautiful girl I have ever seen." Kiriya got nervous as he started talking and decided it was best if he just told the truth. In fact, deep inside he knew that Fuyuko had noticed him. It took him incredible courage the mutter out the words he said. But in the end he was happy that he did it.

After that Seikatsu came and he was ready to start exploring the festival.

---

WC - 1054 + 516
= 1567

Before Kiriya could answer the question from Fuyuko, Seikatsu would come and chime in with his own answer. He proposed the idea that Kiriya fancied Fuyuko. That thought had not crossed the young girls mind and a warm feeling would rush through her upon realizing it. However she was uncertain how serious Seikatsu was with what he said. It was followed up with a rather hearty laugh which made her feel like he was just poking fun at the two. So she decided she would wait until Kiriya himself would give an answer before she would listen to her emotions.

Kiriya stayed almost awfully quiet until Seikatsu had made his way away from the table. That's when he would speak up and reveal what was truly going on, at least that's what she hoped. He would go on about that she shouldn't pay too much attention to what Seikatsu said, this was because Seikatsu didn't know Kiriya at all. However Kiriya did sort of agree on what Seikatsu had said before, but with a few different words. Fuyuko could feel herself becoming slightly warmer, it was unnoticeable on the surface, but it was definitely notice inside her chest. This was the first time someone had told her something along these lines, with more intention than just being polite, it made her feel uncertain on how to proceed. What was the proper way of replying to something like this? She didn't want to hurt the boys feelings by picking the wrongs words to speak. “Thank you Kiriya, that's very kind of you to say.” she replied with a smile. It would be awfully hard for her to keep eye contact afterward and she felt a feeling of relieve when Seikatsu had returned, it would be easier now to not look rude with avoiding eye contact. “Thank you for paying for the meal.” she replied once more accompanied with a smile. Despite how Seikatsu may look, or the way he spoke, he seemed rather well mannered. Now that there were no more things keeping them in the shop the three of them moved out and onto the festival grounds again.

In order to not let silence befall the group once more Fuyuko would attempt to strike up a conversation. “So is this your first day you two are at the festival?” she would wait for their replies before she would continue asking more. If they replied with yes, she would continue asking what their impression of the festival was so far. If they replied with no, she would continue asking about how their experience was so far and what they had done up until this point at the festival. If there was the slightest hint of silence coming over the group once more she would continue asking general questions that showed general interest, anything really to keep the ball rolling.

wc 484
twc 1981

It seemed they were finally ready to completely leave the establishment, so the three of them made their way out, with Fuyuko asking if this was their first day at the festival. 'Seikatsu' could only speak for himself, as he'd just meant the  young Kiriya, so he shrugged. "Ah've been here for a few days, maybe a week." Right after he'd finished talking another question came and he yawned a bit as they walked. "I s'pose it's been fine. Been doing the errands of a obese oni. He like ta eat dango if either of ye ever meet 'im. Helped me make my mask."  With another yawn he reached up to scratch his his beard and then run his hand through it. They were passing a few other food stalls that were trying to entice people with free samples or tales of who'd eaten at their establishment, or just saying they had the greatest food in all the land. Despite being spirits of another plane, these creatures really were just like humans when it came to business. A smile to himself came but only for a moment.

"Any of yeh open for games? They've got ring toss, darts, test yer strength."  He was reading off the signs' titles and the games they said to have for people to play. There was a wide variety of things to play that would win you a teddy bear, tickets, toy cars, and many other things. One of the prizes looked to be a ticket to eat for free at any restaurant on the festival grounds for the remainder of its time. That was something that would come in handy for 'Seikatsu' but he didn't worry too much about it. He was wrapped up in his own little world at this point and spaced out thinking about what he could do with the eat free ticket, should he be able to win it. There were so many places he could try out while he was here that he felt were way too expensive to spend any money on. It would just be hard to keep up his guise if the two kids he was walking with were trying to win the ticket as well.

378|2,236

Kiriya wasn't sure if he did the right thing. After thinking for a while he was certain that telling Fuyuko how he perceived her was the better choice. After that Seikatsu came back. To the surprise of Kiriya he had paid for the whole meal, despite looking like a homeless guy. There was something strange about him that Kiriya had felt when he first laid eyes on him. And now that suspicion was becoming greater and greater. He was certain that Seikatsu was hiding something. On the other hand Kiriya didn't know how to proceed with the situation.

While Kiriya was thinking about Seikatsu Fuyuko had asked them a few questions. They were mainly the basic ones about what they were doing the past few days and things like that. Kiriya waited Seikatsu to answer and quickly answered himself.

"This is my second day at the festival. Yesterday I came alone and didn't see anyone pretty much. I don't know how you managed make that Oni do anything. When I went to him for a ceramic mask I had to do everything. Well, I suppose it was kinda fun but it's his job." Kiriya tried to be quick about his answer but got carried away. Fuyuko seemed to be interested, nodding with a smile when she was listening.

After walking for some time around the festival grounds Seikatsu asked something. The question was about the festival games. His idea was to play some of them. Kiriya was a lot more mature than the other guys his age but in his core he was still a child. He saw the games as a chance to impress Fuyuko, he was just hoping that she wouldn't decline Seikatsu's offer. When Kiriya thought about it some more he realized that he could win a teddy bear for Fuyuko. That became his main goal now.

"That's actually a great idea Seikatsu, I think it would be really fun for the three of us. I haven't had fun in a while so this would actually be a good chance of pace. In the past few months all I've been doing was going on missions. Of course, that would only be okay if Fuyuko agrees with us." When Kiriya said that he turned to Fuyuko and looked her in the eyes blushing a little. He was certainly hoping that she would agree and they would continue to talk. Kiriya wanted to learn more about her.

---

WC - 1567 + 418
= 1985

The two of them had replied in a rather uninteresting way to her questions. Well maybe not in particular uninteresting way, but the answers were normal, nothing really exciting. This made it somewhat hard to have a rather interesting conversation about the festival. To top it off the answers felt short and not that fluffed up, but it was somewhat hard to blame them, the questions itself were rather generic as well. Fuyuko let out a small unnoticeable sigh to the untrained ear, her two partners didn’t really seem to be really good conversationalists. They didn’t really try to keep the conversation rolling or give her interesting questions, or for that matter any questions.

Seikatsu did eventually propose to play some games and Fuyuko was down to play some, although she would definitely hold back and just play like a normal person and not use any of her acquired skills from being a ninja. This was after all a festival for everyone and the games are attuned for that. Not for ninja’s to just steamroll through them. Before she could reply Kiriya replied to Seikatsu. There was something about the way Kiriya replied that made Fuyuko think some more before she would give her own reply.

She felt like there was more to Kiriya’s questions than just trying to have some fun. The comment that Seikatsu made earlier of Kiriya being interested in her. The way he was looking at her right now, the comment that was made earlier and the feeling she got from the way Kiriya phrased his reply made her feel like he was definitely trying to impress her. She didn’t know how good Kiriya was, if he was better than her or the other way around. If she was better than him, there wouldn’t really be a way for him to feel like he would be able to impress her. Because of this she came to the conclusion that it would probably be better to refrain from participating in the games and instead just watch the pair play the games. “I would love to, but I’m not very good at playing games, so if the two of you don’t mind, I’ll just watch the both of you have fun.”

wc 382
twc 2363

OOC: Sorry for the extremely slow reply. Had lost my muse for a bit, and when I got it back, I received some bad news + hand-in week came for school.