A New Challenger Appears!

[Zangy]

Boooooooooooooooooooooooored.
Bored
Boreeeeeeed.

So much boredom, so much time.

Ginjiro was bored out of his mind, just like always. Being kept inside a tiny room most of the day was horrible, especially for him.

But, not everything was to waste. The Tenma wasn't stupid, nor was he thick headed. Well, he was, but that's besides the point. He knew how to get in and out without much noise being made. The boy was a ninja, after all. Sneaking out wasn't much of a problem, but it would be something that he'd be doing. Now, in fact.

An opened window, a lost ninja.

Ginjiro ran up to the Compound's wall, jumping up, looking at what was happening outside the tiny village. Much to his surprise, someone was coming.

[Ein]

The first thing that was different was that Ishiko, with her heightened sense of hearing, was that she could hear much of the daily activity of the Tenma Compound. She could hear women busily chatting, children playing, and men going off to work from blocks away. That was the first change.

The second one was that she felt infinitely more perceptive. It was as though her eyes had been opened and she'd been walking blind, deaf, daft, and dumb all her life. She could see more and understand much more of people and the subtleties of their body language.

The third and, probably, the most important difference was that, rather than waking to her own room, the Genin awoke to a pair of polite Tenma. Both men, both with slick hair, both with a mask of courtesy.

With little say in the matter, Ishiko was "escorted" (or dragged; depends on who you ask, really) out of the small lodging where she'd been and down the streets of the Tenma compound. She still felt a bit nauseous, a sickly feeling that was an undertone in every action she took. Maybe it was because the Tenma Compound really was cursed, as many of the citizens of Iwagakure whispered when they thought no one was listening.

Escorted into a mansion and left in a small corner of it, Ishiko sighed, crossing her fingers over her belly and--

For a moment, Ishiko frantically patted at her exposed midriff. There was nothing. Then why had there been . . . that place. That place with the scorched earth and burning corpses. That low growl of fury. Worst of all, the queasiness reached a high point. She wasn't re-thinking these memories from her point of view, she could see herself knocked out. It was . . .

Air! Air! Quickly reaching out towards one of the modest windows, Ishiko would fumble with the lock with trembling fingers before, in frustration, raise her fist and punch through the glass, shattering the panes into thousands of small shards. The shards would fall away, leaving a few pieces of glass stuck to the edges.

Her hand had a rush of pain that ran up her arm, but her arm guard protected her for the most part. Still, her right hand trembled as she raised it and looked at it.

Ishiko greedily inhaled the influx of air. Breathing hard and fast and almost fainting over at the sick realization that was starting to dawn on her.

[Zangy]

With a new broken window, the librarian raised an eyebrow. It wasn't new to him that normal people weren't accustomed to the 'air' around the tiny compound. It, of course, wasn't normal at all compared to the air of almost anywhere else, filled with hate, disease, and drops of evil at every corner. Of course, evil was never bothered by evil, which made most of the Tenma residents not know the difference between the air here or the air anywhere else.

"Well, hello, Ishiko," the librarian said in his standard sly voice. "Welcome to the Tenma Compound. If anyone else hasn't told you, this is where you'll be staying for a while, and maybe forever, if you like it here. I'm sure you've probably heard about us in some form or another, so please try to use your own judgments and ideas, rather than those of others. Working with demons tends to give a certain... stigma to those of the clan. Don't let your heart rule over your brain, else you might just be here for a very, very long time..." he trailed off, motioning at her to sit down.

---

Ginjiro, however, was much unlike the girl and the librarian. Rather than keep everything formal, he ran around, following the group on the housetops as they made their way to the mansion in the middle of the compound. It was quite odd and strange. Normally only very important people (like himself) were very taken there. This girl must be important.

With that out of the way, Ginjiro snuck back into his room, making his way towards the Librarian's room to listen in on what was being said.

[Ein]

Ishiko didn't really listen to what was being said. She heard it well enough (why can I hear other foot-steps?) but she was focusing on regaining her breath. She felt a lump in her throat, and it hurt with inhalation of air. Her heart rattled against her rip-cage, and she felt ill.

"The Tenma?" Ishiko almost scoffed. "Hating you guys is practically an official policy back in the village."

Keep your cool. She kept having flashes of some horrible place; the earth was scorched, there was the stink of corpses, and what was worse was that she could see and hear the torment that the dead were in.

Focus.

Still gazing out the window, Ishiko slowly, with some trouble, replied; "Well, what did you do? Don't you know kidnapping little girls is against the law?" Inhaling deeply once more from the shattered window, she glanced back towards the librarian.

"I demand you tell me. Now."

Trying to sound braver than you felt always was a priceless experience. Still, she tried her best to keep a stiff upper lip. And by now she realized it wasn't her imagination; there was someone else here.

Another flunky to make sure I don't do anything stupid?

[Zangy]

"Of course, of course," the librarian responded to the girl's accusation of the law. "It's not illegal, though, if those in command will it, though." His smile widened, making him appear even more condescending than before, which was a very hard thing for normal people to do. "You're here to study... learn... grow. You need to learn to deal with the beast that's now inside of you, the beast that can destroy cities, towns, and villages. One of the demons that even the Tenma fear." Letting that sink in a bit, he then continued on. "So, in order to make sure you can control that power, you'll be staying here."

---

Ginjiro, taking in this information, was shocked. It took him a while to connect the pieces, finally realizing that they might be talking about a bijuu or one of the demons that he read about in the book. Calming himself down, or at least trying to, he continued to listen, but his tail kept impatiently wiggling around, wanting to know the secret.

[Ein]

It took all of Ishiko's will power to NOT glance in the direction of the intruder. Whoever he was, he was being obnoxiously loud.

Why can't this idiot hear him? Maybe it really is a flunky?

Glancing about briefly, Ishiko sighed; he wasn't making a lick of sense. "I won't be staying here."

She said so simply, with a childish glance out the window. She already wanted to go back to Iwagakure. Briefly, she wondered how her team-mates were doing.

"I won't be staying here," she said again, simply, as the visions of the previous day began to swim in her head. It was almost suffocating, that place. This place was just annoying, and this man stank of arrogance.

She, quite simply, seemed to ignore his talk of beasts and destroying cities. It was unimportant. She just wanted to go back home.

[Zangy]

The librarian only shook his head at the response for a few seconds before responding. It was like this girl was repeating a tiny mantra just so it wouldn't be true. "That's the wrong answer, little girl. As long as you don't have control over the Nibi, you'll be staying here. If you do want to leave here, then you'll need to learn how to control the demonic power that's now inside of you."

Ginjiro, being outside, instantly perked up at the mention of the Nibi. He had heard the librarian talk about it before, in relation to the Yonbi, which was the name of the beast that was in his belly. Maybe it was of relation to it? Yeah. It probably was. The librarian had mentioned demons and stuff before with talking to her, and he didn't know of any other demons in the world. It probably was! Yeah, he'd need to find out more. Taking a step or two back, he ran foreward, bursting through the door.

"HIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!," Ginjiro yelled out as burst through the door, not letting the librarian finish his thought, which instantly was replied with a head being hung down.

"This is Ikkou, one of the more... obnoxious Tenma. You'll be training with him," the librarian said very matter-of-factly, without leaving much for Ishiko interject in.

[Ein]

Ishiko glanced towards the librarian, her new mis-matched eyes reaching something of that Nibi's analytical gaze. For now, her eyes adopted that gaze, shifting towards Ikkou.

There was something there. Something nagging her about this boy; something that swelled up in her chest. She just felt something unpleasant creep into the corners of her mind. Ishiko glanced towards the Tenma leader, feeling something of a presence in her mind; something stirred by the sight of Ikkou.

"Listen, just listen. I have no interest in staying here." With these last words, she made a glance towards Ikkou, the resemblance of innocence flashing for a moment. The faintest hint of a smile slipping across her face. "And I have utterly no interest in sticking around to endure the stink of ambition that is clinging to your every word." She looked out towards the window, breathing in the free air.

"I am meeting with the Tsuchikage." She said, marching past the librarian and reaching out towards Ikkou and hooking his right arm with her left arm. "This one is escorting me. Bye."

[Zangy]

The librarian raised his eye at the girl. She'd be a difficult one to tame. But, like everyone else, she'd be tamed just the same. It might take a... beating or two to set her straight. Ginjiro would probably either be a big help, or a huge hindrance. Which would happen, though, was up to how she reacted to the boy. Of course, the librarian could always turn a negative into a positive, tis the way of the incubus. He'd get his way. It'd only take time and time was plentiful.

---

Ginjiro was too much in a stupor to really pay attention to what the girl did in the flash of events. However, he did know that his mark was hurting a lot. Something was up with this girl. Maybe she really did have one of the demons inside of her. He dwelled on it a bit, mindlessly walking out of the mansion with the girl, before coming to a halt once outside. "Woaaaaaaaaaah. Who are you?! the boy asked out, not really asking for a name or anything, since he could already see her name. Of course, he didn't remember anything about her from anything, so, the name was effectively meaningless.

[Ein]

Ishiko felt something leaking into her mind.

A voice, a will.

What was that that just happened, again? Did her kidnapper just let her go? Why would he talk about demons?

She glanced towards Ikkou, feeling wince and throb of . . . disgust? It was something unpleasant, and a deeper will compelled her to simply use the Tenma.

Upon his question, Ishiko would smile, faking sincerity with experience that was not her own. "I'm sorry for seeming like such a brat, but that man . . . I'm scared of him," she said, glancing away from him for a second. "I don't know what's going on; what was he talking about? What about these demons? Why did a Jounin come to my house and take me away?" Her sentences began to blend together, her breath cutting short as she began to say the last few words.

She'd blush. "I-I'm sorry . . . you probably know less than I do." Rubbing her eyelides momentarily, she'd sigh. "I just insulted and walked out on the only person that had any answers." Then, almost as a whisper, "I'm such an idiot."

Take. The. Bait. It was a gamble, but this guy seemed like the Librarian's flunky, and not exactly the brightest of lackies. Anything that he said could be trusted far more than the ambitious man that first greeted her.

Her mind began to become cold and calculating. Play the damsel, squeeze out answers, and put forth self-preservation. This situation was horrible in that she knew nothing. It really wasn't smart to walk out on the Librarian, but . . . that guy struck her as the sort of pervert that got off on little girls.

[Zangy]

Ginjiro cocked his head to the left. This was the first time that anyone had ever been afraid of the librarian. Maybe Coal was right. Maybe there was some sort of bad thoughts about the clan that others had. Oh well. He didn't need to be bothered by thoughts like those. People could just judge him for who he was and what he did, not because of his name. That'd be just silly.

Right?

Yeah, people weren't that shallow outside of the compound, were they? Oh well, thought for another day.

Returning his head back to the normal way, he answered her question, well the one that he remembered, "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeell, there are demons all around here. There are tiny ones, like the ones that I summon, and most other Tenma do. They're our buddes!" he exclaimed with a big smile. "But, there are other scary demons too. I've read up a lot about them! They're able to destroy cities and villages and towns and everything else! Then, there are the 9 really strong ones. They are called bijuu... or something like that. They're really scary and even stronger than other demons! Each one is different, from what the librarian has told me... they're really secret too. Not many people know about them, though..." He was mostly just regurgitating the information that he knew and was told. It wasn't too important of data, but it was something.

"Oh! Yeah, the librarian said you have the Nibi, right? That sounds like it's one of the really strong ones. I have the Yonbi inside me." he said with a smile, not fully recognizing what that truly meant.

[Ein]

"B-B-Bijuu . . ." she said, biting her lip and tearing up a bit.

Outwardly, the girl seemed to be trying to cope with the situation. Inwardly, she was recounting the previous day . . . through someone else's eyes.

A plot to destroy Iwa, weeks of flawless planning, constant preparation, and a surprise attack. A flaw in the plan; that lead into a great day of fighting off an elite team of Iwa Ninja, ending with . . . the sight of Ishiko, unconscious.

That . . . couldn't be real, could it?

"Ikkou-san?" She squeaked, glancing up, crocodile tears beginning to well up in her eyes, she'd look up towards Ikkou, the tears slopping down her cheeks. "Why do I have all these terrible thoughts?"

Somewhere in the hearts of people there's a point where liars use their lies to portray their hearts. Perhaps this was Ishiko more than the Nibi, the sincerity genuine. Maybe the Nibi was using Ishiko's sincerity for it's own advantage. Maybe these thoughts weren't the Nibi afterall, and they'd always been there . . .

The uncertainty was what brought about this deep, primal fear looming behind every word.

"I-I keep having thoughts . . . about what happened yesterday. And, it feels like, it feels like there's something wrong with me!" She'd begin to raise her voice a bit on the last few words, stopping herself by placing her hand over her mouth.

She'd pause, steadying herself. Removing her hand, she began to speak. "Ikkou-san . . . please tell me I'm not going crazy. Just, please tell me you know what I'm talking about!"

Part of her mind was considering how useful this ploy might be to use Ikkou in the future, the part that frightened Ishiko. The other part was disgusted with herself, and felt a deep, primal fear about the truth she felt in Ikkou's words.

[Zangy]

Ginjiro put his index finger on his chin, looking up a bit, acting like he was deep in thought, when he was just scanning his memory. Then, his eyes lit up remembering. "It could be like the dreams that I have. They're really scary. I'm up in the air floating and this big demon is underneath me and he always scares me..." the Tenma trailed off a bit before realizing what he said, hoping to save a little face, "But then I remember that I'm strong enough to handle it, 'cause I'm strong!" The facade wouldn't really fool anyone, but to Ikkou, it was enough.

"You're not going crazy," he said with a smile. "It's just that there is now someone else sharing your body." To Ginjiro, the thought of this wasn't anything, since he did grow up in a clan of demons and possession was pretty common place. "But it's with a constant demon, rather than with any that are just looking for some fun!"

[Ein]

Did he just . . . make a coherent sentence without running the words together?

That just felt wrong.

Ishiko would groan, the gravity of the situation quickly becoming apparent. Nibi. Yonbi. Was she really supposed to believe all of this?

Slumping down on the side-walk, Ishiko sighed, propping up her right leg against her body and resting her chin on her raised right knee. Her eyes were cast downward, half to keep up the act, half to just let the frustration sink in.

"Something else sharing my body?" She asked, with light-hearted bitterness. "You make it sound so fine. Grand, even!"

She'd look away, her fingers tracing invisible lines in the dirt of the street. "Handle it. Of course you can handle it," she said, her voice low and choked as she sobbed a bit. "You're a Tenma! Of course You can handle this; you're used to demons infesting every orifice of your body!"

She'd pause, her fingers running along invisible lines in the dirt. "Don't make it sound so easy. Just don't."

[Zangy]

Ginjiro's head shifted to the right a bit, his face taking on a more confused look. He hadn't ever had any demons possess him, since his two demon companions were not of that type, with the true meaning of her statement flying through his ears, reaching nothing in between.

"It's not..." Ginjiro said in more of a whimper than his normal full and proud voice. "The librarian always says how possessions are fine and are normal and I shouldn't worry about it hurting. I haven't been possessed before, though, so I don't know how others feel."

Instead of continuing, however, his voice rang out again in his proud and boastful tone, "But, I promised that I'd be strong and not show any weakness, like a true Iwa ninja!"

[Ein]

Ishiko didn't bother. She didn't bother pointing out that what was done to her was unfair. She didn't bother pointing out that this was a horrible misfortune, nor did she bother with much more whining.

This guy was going through the same thing she was. He seemed all right enough. At least he wasn't crying on some street about how sorry he felt for himself.

Taking a moment to compose herself, Ishiko offered a strained smile. "Like a true Ninja of Iwagakure." It hurt to smile. It also hurt to continue to keep up these facades, shifting from one to the next. Sniffling, she'd still sat with her butt planted on the side walk.

As she was rubbing the tears from her eyes, and beginning to feel more at ease, a loud, low grumbling sound rumbled from her stomach, turning into a low whine as it ended.

Ishiko blinked, glancing up towards Ikkou with an embarrassed smile. It was way too loud. How long had it been since she'd eaten? What did she eat?

Almost grateful to have a distraction and something to occupy her mind, Ishiko's necessities became more demanding than self-pity. "I, uh, sorry," she'd say, laughing. Clearing her throat, she'd stand, dusting off her thighs and butt.

She did so a bit longer than it took, but as she finished, she looked up at Ikkou, taking care to tuck a blue lock of her and brush it over her ear with her right hand. Her mis-matched eyes looked into his, expecting that he read her mind despite the fact that she didn't really know herself at the moment, and she laughed a little bit at herself.

[Zangy]

Sure, Ginjiro was an idiot at times. Sure, he was oblivious to most things, but one thing that he wasn't oblivious to was hunger. Whenever himself or someone else was hungry, he could tell. Maybe it was just some enhanced senses. Maybe it was something else, but whatever it was, it was here.

Feeling a bit of a spendthrift, Ginjiro decided upon himself that he'd take this girl to one of the good places to eat in the compound. It had seen some bad times recently, but it was one of the boy's favorite places to eat and, while being stuck up in the mansion, he normally had always asked to go there, or at least for the librarian to bring food back from there. Since the librarian treated him as pseudo-royalty, he normally got exactly what he wanted. Being spoiled was always fun.

As the girl was staring into his eyes, he raised his eyebrow, more concerned with the fact that she was hungry rather than anything else. "Hheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey," Ginjiro called out, to his speaking partner, interrupting the silence that had begun to fall over the two jinchuuriki. "I know where we could go get something to eaaaaaat. It's soooooooooooo gooooooooood," he said, making sure to emphasize each word in his own bratty way.

Unlike before, Ginjiro took the lead, grabbing the the genin's arm and started to run, taking her with him.

[Ein]

Ten easy ways to avoid touchy subjects, by Ishiko.

# 7: Bodily functions, when obvious enough, really kill a serious conversation and provide a perfect scape goat to dodge the subject!

Whatever this demon stuff was, she didn't want to think about it too much. She'd already spent the past two minutes thinking about it over and over and over again, and she could tell that she'd barely begun to even get the grasp of the situation.

Maybe it was smarter to make an informed decision and go back and play politics with the librarian. It was quiet possibly a helluva lot smarter to go back and grovel and beg for information. It also made more sense. But . . .

He gave her a reason to smile. Sure, it was a bit shallow, (smiling just to not make him feel like scum to have a 13 year old crying next to you) but it gave her a reason to smile, didn't it?

Right now, she just needed to eat. Her body was compelling her mind to stop thinking, and she was only too happy to oblige. To hell with whatever the Nibi was, to hell with the memories that weren't her memories, and to hell with the pedophile of a librarian.

"HEY!" She'd call out as Ginjiro dragged her along. He was much faster and it only took her now to notice she was practically tripping over her two feet trying to keep up with him. "Where are you taking me?!"

The fake smile managed to produce a genuine laugh, and, for one millionth of a second, Ishiko felt like smiling.

[Zangy]

The two jinchuuriki came up to Ginjiro's favorite place to eat. The building was pretty standard for an Iwa building, carved out of natural rock formations, yet still sturdy all around, must like the rest of the village, taking homage after the 'father' village to the suburb. There was a phrase over the doorway that Ishiko wouldn't be able to read, but it was a sight for Ginjiro's eyes, his mouth watering at the sight of it.

Right before entering, the boy answered the girl's question with a quick remark, which would easily be picked up by her sensitive ears, but would have easily been missed by someone else. "Thebestfoodeveroutofeverywhere!"

Entering the building, while still dragging her in, Ginjiro nodded to the waiter that he hadn't seen in a few months. "Hiyooooooooooooooooooooooo!" he yelled out, causing a bit of a commotion as the demonic waiter tensed up a bit. The elder woman knew of the demon boy and his prior antics and, because of such, they had a room specially made for the lad. An entirely soundproof room that let all the other patrons be blissfully ignorant of the boy. The woman thought that Ginjiro might have picked up a girlfriend (unfathomable to her completely) and led the two to the backroom.

[Ein]

Ishiko, rubbing her sore shoulder as Ikkou finally led her into the restaurant. It hurt, just a little bit. She felt a bit out of place, what with the patrons all being Tenma.

She almost felt self-conscious about not having a tail or any horns. "Uh . . . what do they serve here?" She asked, half-expecting it to be something along the lines of brimstone, coal, or maybe undead--

"Uh, what do they serve here?!" She'd ask after a moment of considering what might be served. It was a bit silly, but . . . she was pretty sure she was one of the only people to be in the Tenma Compound in a while.

Heck, she was pretty sure she was the only person to have ever been into the Tenma Compound that wasn't a Tenma.

[Zangy]

Ginjiro's face wore a dumbfounded mask, that, just so happened to be the same as his normal face. Imagine that.

The boy was a bit confused, though. This place was famous! Everyone that he knew knew of this place. It was famous! This girl was just weird. Yeah, that was it. What a weird girl. "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell," he started, ready to explain. "They serve really good juicy steaks and it's so blooooody." He said, with his mouth open and his eyes rolling back a bit, showing off how much the jinchuuriki liked it.

Of course, being in the Tenma, he was accustomed to steaks that were just barely cooked, leaving a lot of the blood in them. 'Tis normal for them, after all.

Menus sprang up from the table, both in each place where the two were sitting. Ninjutsu did have other uses besides fighting. The Tenma's fuuin were top tier, after all.

"You can see the menu here!" he exclaimed, showing Ishiko his menu. "When you're ready, you just have to press heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere," he explained, pointing out what appeared to be a fuuin-button of sorts in the middle of the table.

The menu's contents were mostly raw or near raw type foods, with more natural ingredients without much use of spices, besides a berry or two sprinkled on.

[Ein]

Ishiko was a bit disturbed. He's so freaking weird.

As the menu was laid out in front of her, Ishiko was reminded of her hunger . . . only to be dumbfounded by the menu's language. It wasn't kanji, and it wasn't anything similar to formal calligraphy.

Am I . . . supposed to understand this?

The odd arrangement of Fuuin buttons didn't help to make her situation any better, either. While she was fairly gifted in Ninjutsu . . . Fuuinjutsu was something of an extra-curricular course she hadn't devoted much time to.

So, even a child is expected to be able to understand this menu and how the Fuuin work. The Tenma . . . I can see why Rashi can preform complicated Fuuin from a distance.

"I, uh, I'll have whatever you're having," Ishiko said with that polite lady's voice she'd developed through years of practice. "I'm sure since you come here all the time," placing her elbows on the table and resting her chin on her folded hands, she'd offer a bright, small smile, "You'll treat me right."

[Zangy]

Ginjiro's mouth widened into a massive grin and a nod. There was a reason that the owners of the restaurant gave him this room besides interrupting other customers. It'd be much cheaper to just outright ban him from the premises. However, Ginjiro ate. A lot. In fact, he normally ate enough to keep the restaurant in business. 'Course that was when he came here a lot.

Putting his menu down, he pressed the button in the middle of the table and spoke clearly, "Mindaz sokasodik kettesével!" There was a slight gasp heard on the other end, then a semi-quiet rustling could be heard, which quickly died down as the Tenma removed his finger.

"This will be so much fun! You'll have some food to take back with you!" The boy was really overjoyed. No one ever ate with him. Jubaku never wanted to waste money on anything and Eko didn't ever want to try out any of the delicious food of the Tenma clan. Of course, this girl might be weird like him too, and like it, but that'd be weird of her.

He was sorta sparked at Ishiko when she said that he'd be the one treating her. He had done so for others before (especially his money hungry brother) and he loved doing so. It was when people could let their tummies do the talking, not their wallets. Since he didn't spend much money on anything else, he had a ton of money to spend. Nodding back to her he answered her question a bit late, "Of course I'm paying. I'm protecting you now, so I have to cover for you too!"

[Ein]

. . . Did I just make him pay the bill?

Of course Ishiko knew a bit about how these sorts of situations work out, (boys paying for girls and all) but she had no idea it was done so without any effort on her part. Boys were just eager to please, possibly?

She considered explaining to him that she meant that she trusted his taste in ordering good food. But then she remembered that her purse had been left at home after her kidnapping, and this was probably for the best.

"Take back? I mean--" she stopped short as Ikkou went further in his little phrase and declared that he'd protect her. She was starting to realize that he wasn't the librarian's flunky, but, maybe, he was in the same situation?

That was a temporary side-track from her main thoughts. "I didn't mean that, ya know. I meant that I'd pay you back." She said so in a way that was supposed to sound haughty (at least, she tried to make it sound like that) but ended up coming out a little bit flustered and embarrassed at the mention of protection.

Then, clearing her throat, she'd mutter something small and significant, "But thank you."

[Zangy]

"Pfft. It doesn't matter if you pay me back. I don't buy much, besides food, so I have a lot of extra money!" he said with the childish ignorance of bills, house payments, and other such necessities.

Since he had lived with Jubaku or the librarian all his life (for the most part), he hadn't ever actually had to deal with that sort of stuff. Jubaku, being the brother with any sort of brains, handled all the finances, even at a young age. The Tenma clan helped (partially) of course, but the twins did have to do tons of missions. Ginjiro had thought he got a lot of money, but in reality, it was barely any, compared to other ninja. Jubaku was good at tricking his brother. 'Course, it wasn't really hard to trick an idiot.

Almost as if the previous statement just registered into his head, he perked up once again. "YEAH! WE'LLGETSOMUCHTOTAKEHOOOOOOOOOOME!~" he yelled out in a sing-songy voice. "It's soooooo goooooood tooooo!" By now, it'd be obvious why they got their own little room. Ginjiro was loud.

Thinking a bit (amazing, I know), Ginjiro asked the girl a small question. "How long are you going to stay here?" It was partly him being curious, but then also partly him wanting to see how long he'd protect the girl. Barely anyone actually went out to eat with him, and she was a first. Well, Jubaku did, but all he did was complain. Complaining time after time, which just made the younger Tenma annoyed, which made the entire experience not-fun. Eating was supposed to be fun, not not-fun. Otherwise it wouldn't be fun, ruining everything for Ginjiro.

Yeah, fun was important in everything.

[Ein]

There's something sweet, and almost kind about the boy.

He was quite possibly sincere in almost everything he did. Smiling at him with a small, polite smile that conveyed a sense of relief, Ishiko would here Ikkou out. "Mm. I see. How about," she said, propping her right elbow onto the table and resting her chin on the palm of her hand, "You take all the stuff home. Girls don't have the luxury of eating as much as we want."

Winking, she'd get a bit dismayed at the next question about how long she'd stay in this . . . place. It reminded her of her situation, and it didn't bring about any pleasant thoughts. "Well, uh . . . I don't really know." She'd admit, glancing away from Ikkou briefly as her smile faltered into an unsure grimace. Brightening up almost instantly, however, she regained her smile, "So, how about you? You don't ever leave this place, Ikkou-san?"

She would rather spend the day talking about anything but her situation. People needed this occasionally; a break from the surreal that happened daily. They needed to feel like they had some measure of control.

[Zangy]

Somehow, against the laws of physics and time, Ginjiro's grin widened at the mention of getting to take the food back. Joy joy and overjoy! He followed up with a giant nod, marking his approval of the statement.

Upon the girl's question, a confused look washed over his face. "No, not really. The librarianalwaysmakesmestayhere. It gets boring a lot of the time, so I sometimes sneak out, but then some meanieface always brings me back. It gets reaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllllllllllllllly boring." With his face mimicking exactly how he felt, it was pretty easy to see his extreme dislike for being forced to stay inside the compound day after day after day. Normally, Tenma would go at least weekly into the main of Iwa to do shopping, missions, or something of the sort. Most went unseen by Iwa's normal inhabitants, but they were still there.

"The librarian says that it's because I have the demon in my stomach, but I don't see why that matters at all. I've played with other demons before and they let me go wherever I wanted, but apparently this one is sooooooooooooo strooooooooooooong and wanted that even people outside our clan want them. He said that it's dangerous to go outside, but I don't believe him! I can take on anyone!"

As soon as he finished, a tiny bell rang, which instantly opened up the front part of the table, which changed Ginjiro's expression radically. He really wasn't one to hide his emotions at all, which was good for others, but could be bad for him, not that it mattered much to him. The table, in a matter of seconds, instantly filled with food. There were many different types, ranging from semi-cooked meats (of various creatures), to salads, to fruits, to multiple other dishes. It was an entire buffet!

[Ein]

Ishiko made a mental note to not get stuck in this Tenma Compound for the rest of her life. Such a fate was sad for her, but Ikkou seemed at home, despite his protesting.

She visibly winced at the re-mentioning of the demon that supposedly rested within him. (Why am I so sure that there's something there?) Still, Ikkou didn't seem to mind it. So she tried to smoothly let the subject area drop without a further word.

About to respond with something, Ishiko yelped at the sight of food materializing before her. Seriously; would a warning be so inconvenient? Recovering from a slight start, Ishiko blinked. The buffet before her instantly made the grumbling noises come back. Immediately, her hands each reached for a pair of chop sticks; holding up a pair in each hand, she put her skill as a ninja to good use.

Her hands became a blur of speed dancing over the food, and her thought-processes were put to an utter halt, chop-sticks briefly reaching up and stuffing some meat or salad into her mouth. Her chop-sticks seemed to float over the food, and the only evidence that they even grazed a scrape was the leavings of sauce, grease, and small crumbs stuck to the wood.

Thought and rationale evaluation of circumstances quickly took a back-seat to her pressing hunger.

Ishiko's face quickly became stuffed; her cheeks bulging as she tried to swallow more and more food. The last thing she'd eaten was half a fruit. She was starving. She was a growing girl, too! She needed her strength back after having a beast of unimaginable destruction sealed in her body!

Hunger truly was the best spice.

[Zangy]

Ginjiro truly was happy. For the first time in a looooooooong time, someone shared his eating habits. With how they were eating, there wouldn't be any need to take any home either!

After being forced to stay in the manshion day after day, it was good to get out with someone else every once in a while, even better if that person shared traits with you!

Well, at least for now. Now was food time.

Much akin to the girl, Ginjiro took in food, eating as much as he could, not barely even waiting for taking a breath.

Food was good.

---

(OOC: Not much for this post, but they're eating and all.)

[Ein]

Ishiko enjoyed the time spent with Ikkou, laughing about nothing and enjoying the food. Even after the food was done, Ishiko and Ikkou sat about letting it digest and taking dozing naps.

It was nice to spend time with a fellow Jinchuuriki. It wasn't until dusk started to settle upon the Tenma Compound that the two were beginning to consider leaving the restaurant. Just an option to be entertained.