A Little Sugar Helps One Study [Open]

[Osuteno]

Spoiler

Yukiko and Karasuko frowned as they were pushed to the ground and their table was flipped over, cookie boxes sent flying and dented from now being underneath the table. Five older girls wearing the same style of Kunoichi Scout uniforms as the twins were laughing and jeering at them while the few adults nearby pretended not to see anything.

“When we come back later you better not be trying to sell on our turf. The central market district belongs to troop #321.”

The twins watched stone faced as the older girls spat in their direction and left, Yukiko managing to keep herself from sniffling until they were fairly out of sight in the crowd.

Karasuko hopped into her feet and helped Yukiko up who was currently wiping tears out of her eyes. “Are you alright Kiko?” Karasuko asked her sister with a blank face but much irritation in her voice.

Still sniffling a bit Yukiko nodded, “Yes I am fine, it doesn’t hurt that much, it is just a physiological reaction. I am more angry than hurt. I should be able to stop crying in a minute, and we can clean up…”

Both girls looked towards their destroyed setup and sighed. “What are our chances Kiko?” Karasuko asked already knowing the answer.

“In a fight? You like hearing me talk too much Suko… They will likely all be entering the academy next year. Ignoring their combat skills badges, we might be able to beat our cousin and the merchant daughter if we caught them by surprise. The Santaru and the Hachiashi have activated their bloodlines already so they are already stronger than most new academy students. You might be able to dodge around them for more than a few seconds, but I wouldn’t likely get to take a step. The shrine girl won the scout combat tournament this year and last, and she has multiple genjutsu and ninjutsu badges. We don’t even qualify to attempt a sneak attack.”

“So we retreat then,” Karasuko sighed, disgruntled.

Loading up their crushed and bent, but miraculously unopened cookie boxes into their little wagon, they thanked the store owner they borrowed the table from and left that part of town entirely in case the older girls decided to use them as examples. After a bit of walking and taking a gondola lift across town, the girls stepped off at the library station with their little wagon and went to try their luck.

Technically they weren’t allowed to sell food inside the library, so they had to leave their wagon with the front desk with a librarian, but what they were allowed to do was take cookie orders… and sell a few boxes secretly from their little backpacks or suggest someone find them outside later. Now it was simply time to tempt people with one of five flavors of cookie goodness, or special order one of the two deluxe flavors. But who would be their first target? The two Kunoichi Scouts wandered into the library with a clipboard displaying appetizing images of their five main cookie flavors (Maple Cremes, Double Fudge Lightning Boomers, Thin Ice Mints, Shadow Coffee Cake Bites, and Super Caramel Skull Crushers) and began approaching strangers.

[topic entered with NPCs Yukiko (white hair) and Karasuko (black hair)]

 

[Hotaka Kyo]

Kyo who had been in the library since dawn sat and read the book as he sung it quietly under his breath to himself; it was a song about a man, who had to win a drinking contest against the living dead composed in ancient Kumo,

“Κάθισα στο Διψασμένο Διάβολο
ένα φύλλο κρέμασε από τον άνεμο
όταν οι πόρτες των νυχτερίδων συρρικνώθηκαν ανοιχτά
και ένας ξένος έτρεξε μέσα
έβαλε το κεφάλι του από τη μια πλευρά στην άλλη
και κοίταξε με ένα βυθισμένο μάτι
Άκουσα το γύρισμα μιας σκουριασμένης ώθησης
καθώς έκλαψε τη θλιβερή νύχτα”

He sang to the same beat that the book displayed. He wanted to memorize it, he never checked out books like these from the library, even if they were allowed to, simply because he couldn’t afford to be seen with them outside of niche assignments or research that would require such a thing to be done. To help disguise it, the scarred young man had several other books stacked next to the open one that he was pursuing, on various subjects from ancient styles and fighting techniques to unclassified mission reports, all in ancient kumo as well. He occasionally paused to look up at those that passed by, watching them warily, it was during one of these pauses that he caught sight of the white and black haired girls wearing the standard Kunoichi Scouts uniform, with their clipboard that from what he could see had the various cookies that they sold. His stomach growled loudly at the image of the cookies on the clipboard and remembering that he hadn’t eaten at all that day, and had promised his brothers something as a gift Kyo quickly shut the book, added it to the stack and moved towards the two, leaving the books on the end of the table where he had been studying the ancient songs.

Stopping next to them he would give a small bow of his head and upper chest as he introduced himself, “Hotaka Kyo.” He gave a moment’s pause before he opened his mouth to continue, but rather rudely his stomach interrupted again, growling as he saw the clipboard and the visions of the delicious cookies that the Kunoichi Scouts sold up close. Once it finished Kyo continued speaking once more, “This is agreeable timing, I would like a box of Lightning Boomers, One Ice Mints, and two Skull Crushers.” He paused a moment, before adding, “I shall also need a two boxes of Maple Cremes and Coffee Cake Bites, they are my little brothers favorites.”


[Topic Entered]

Song verse in English

I was sittin in Thirsty Devil
one sheet hung to the wind
when the bat wings doors creaked open
and a stranger sauntered in
he moved his head from side to side
and glared with a sunken eye
I heard the spin of a rusty spur
as he shook off the dreary night

 

[Osuteno]

The twins gave slight bows in reply to Kyo’s.

“Seven boxes at 850 yen apiece comes to 5950 please, and I am Yukiko, Scout Captain of troop #450, five years old,” the white haired child said simply pulling out a rabbit shaped money pouch in case change was needed.

“Karasuko, Vice Captain and Strike Leader of the same, five years old… not that our troop has more members yet, sorry the boxes are a little beat up, but the cookies are still sealed” the black haired child said a little more personably as she glanced around for librarians before starting to pull the least damaged boxes from their encounter from their backpacks. It was actually rather lucky Kyo didn’t ask for a third box of anything, the girls only could really fit two boxes of each item in their little backpacks without crushing them further.honestly they weren’t expecting to hit such a big spender so quickly.

Karasuko caught something though and tugged Yukiko’s sleeve, pointing at Kyo’s table. ““Μπορείτε να διαβάσετε αυτά?”” The twins asked in unison using very rough vulgar.

“Our daddy speaks it and that other one a lot, but we have had to learn from guessing what he and the young granny say so we only know a bit,” said Karasuko.

“We can only read a few words of either of them though despite how much we sneak into Daddy’s office to look at his papers,” followed Yukiko.

““Μας αρέσουν περισσότερο τα παραμύθια,”” the Twins once more said in unison, using slightly off but understandable vulgar.

 

[Hotaka Kyo]

Kyo removed a pouch that was hanging from the inside of his shirt and quickly counted out the yen, taking a moment before handing it over to add another bit of yen to the pile he had gathered before handing over a total of 6500 yen to the Scout Captain, Yukiko. “It is nice to meet the two of you. Consider the rest a donation to your troop.” He said as he took the boxes from the girls and eyed the boxes a bit turning one of them over in his hands before speaking, “Did you have to take them from other scouts by force?” It was said jokingly, figuring it was actually being in the backpack that had caused it rather than anything else. Kyo was privileged in that he had a place to stay and food to eat for free, living in the Hotaka Compound, so virtually all of his funds where discretionary. He had plans that would require funding, but something like this wouldn’t set them back, and it was good to treat oneself and your family every now and then he had learned.

When the twins spoke in Vulgar, though rough as it was it surprised him and he looked at them again from his eyebrow slightly raised for a moment before he nodded and replied in kind, “Ναι μπορώ, είμαι έκπληκτος ότι είστε σε θέση να.” The towering young man replied more musical and much smoother than one might expect. He took note of the ‘other’ one they spoke of. He figured they meant the classical variant, which meant they were the children of someone rather important in the village. “You may wish to keep that you try to learn the other one to yourself, it can result in punishment for your father and yourselves if the wrong person hears that.” He knew that supposedly those that learned it without permission where hunted down and killed, as well as those that taught them. He doubted an exception would be made simply because they were young and not intentionally taught. Though thinking back to his time at the academy, perhaps they would, they could be very lax about things at times.

Kyo paused a moment pondering, could he ask them to show him what they had learned about the classical variant? Possibly, but that would increase the likelihood someone would find out, and he would rather not be put to death, or be the cause of death of the two girls and whomever their father was that they learned these things from. “Don’t even mention that you’ve seen the other one, the punishment can be overly harsh.” Kyo hadn’t been given any instructions on this, so he was using his own discretion, and was glad that he didn’t need to report this as it would likely cause him issues of his own. He wondered who the young granny was, he ponder a bit about the members who he felt would know the language, guessing Yuii, Ayumu, Kitsune for sure, others he didn’t know or hadn’t meant personally. He didn’t think Ayumu had any children, so he wouldn’t be the father but either of the other two could easily be the granny. And he could see Yuii filling that roll in their eyes fairy easily from what he remembered from his time as a student. It didn’t matter much who the other was, but information was powerful in its own right.

Pondering a moment Kyo answered the last bit, “Τα παραμύθια τείνουν να έχουν έναν κόκκο αλήθειας μέσα τους.” With their understanding of Vulgar being what it was, at such a young age, and being the daughters of one of the more important members of Kumo, the young man figured that they would one day be skilled nin in their own right, and as such building a rapport with them now may in the end be very useful. Skilled help would always be useful in the shinobi world, and those that you could help build yourself to be more useful to you seemed like a good investment. “If you wish to know more of the language so you can read more tales and understand more, then I can assist you in this, though I would require you to keep what I read in the language to yourselves and not share it with any other.” It was something of a secret the text he pursed, though not because of what they contained per say, but because of how they might influence others perception of him. Kyo paused a moment pondering, he spoke more to them then he did most, was it their age? Or perhaps the opportunity that this presented him? He would have to ponder on that at a later time, perhaps he should spend more time at the academy assisting in the future to see. Learning something about yourself was always worth the effort.

 

[Osuteno]

““Thank you for your donation to troop #450.”” The Twins said in unison while giving Kyo his cookies and flipping through their clipboard to note the donation.

“No it is against the rules to take boxes from other troops or purposefully destroy them,” corrected Yukiko.

“But we did get kicked out of the central market district and the boxes got a bit scuffed up,” said Karasuko a bit disgruntled.

“Turf fights are the hardest part of selling cookies, there are a number of seven year olds who have started using chakra a bit early and dominate the competition before they leave scouts and join the academy when they are eight.”

When Kyo spoke in vulgar himself the twins whispered to each other after looking a bit confused initially before nodding to themselves, ““We can’t really read that much since so few of daddy’s books have pictures.””

“And it is against the rules to learn the other?” Yukiko less asked and was more confirming.

“It is probably because it hurts to say those words and makes your chest all shaky when you do,” commented Karasuko.

““It does sound pretty though,”” they nodded.

The second time Kyo spoke vulgar the girls looked a bit confused again and began whispering to each other once more but it seemed they were stuck on something.

“Something about rice?” Karasuko asked.

“I was thinking wheat, but that still doesn’t seem right, and the other word… tales hold something? Wheat of Honesty?”

“Legumes?”

“Grains?

“Grains of truth like the saying?”

“Probably?”

The twins returned their attention to Kyo,
““We don’t know that much.””

The twins shrugged at Kyo’s suggestion. “We were mostly interested because the stories were new to us,” Yukiko said unsure about the offer.

“Particularly some of the stories about Raiden and his companions that weren’t in our other books,” Karasuko said with more excitement in her voice, as if the spirit of adventure had caught her.

““We are curious why you want to keep what you read secret, are they dirty grownup books like Auntie Saeko reads? Daddy says if someone try to tell us dirty stuff that we should tell him or yell for an authority figure.””

The girls weren’t being malicious, simply honestly stating what they had been told. Though, generally speaking they were willing to go along with most things that seemed entertaining, except Yukiko’s physical threshold for activity was much lower than Karasuko’s.

Curiosities peaked, the girls went around Kyo and started looking more carefully at the books on the table.

“This one has a lot of pictures Kiko,” Karasuko said while mimicking the stances and steps of some of the styles pictured inside the book.

“This one has more charts and maps than pictures really, Suko,” Yukiko said skimming the reports looking for words she could recognize.

““You are an awfully straightlaced person aren’t you?”” The twins looked up and asked Kyo, taking a guess at his personality from his book choices.

““Which means you are probably hiding something more embarrassing while acting serious,”” the twins smiled together mischievously as they began reaching for another book on the table.

 

[Hotaka Kyo]

Kyo nodded at the girls as they explained the turf war was the responsible for the damage to the boxes. Seems he had unintentionally been close to the truth, though he hadn’t know that the Scouts were so cut-throat with their activities. Then again he didn’t really know much about youth groups outside of the academy, so perhaps they were all like that? “I wouldn’t worry about that too much, you two seem smart enough to deal with it in other ways if you need to. Perhaps some Tai practice would help, or you may come up with a plan that will take care of it.” He was sure that they could come up with a way to deal with their opponents.

When the two put their heads together to discuss what it was he had said The tall one’s approval increased, they worked well together, leaning on each other and their knowledge of things to come up with the right answer, or at least close enough. “You do much better than those your age; I didn’t learn anything of note about the language until I was already a member of the academy.” Kyo couldn’t comment on how it sounded or made one feel when speaking classical variant, not just because doing so could be grounds for death, but because he had no experience in the matter. He did make note of what they said though, he enjoyed the sound and songs of the Vulgar variant, and now he began to ponder if sounding pretty meant that the same songs would sound even better in the classical variant.

The second one they had some issues with, which was fine, they still figured it out and he nodded his head at them, “Yes, Fairy tales tend to hold grains of truth in them. And you’re both doing fine, capable of figuring out what was said even with a limited vocabulary and understanding.” When they spoke of the reason behind it Kyo nodded, “This is as good a reason as any to learn, there are stories that would otherwise be lost to the void if no one spoke or read the language. And stories about Raiden and his companions are likely to be contained behind the language…” Kyo paused half a moment before continuing, “or even the classical variant. I wouldn’t doubt that they have stored away knowledge and tales from the masses.” The latter part was more to himself than to the girls.

When they referred to why he would want to keep something a secret, he knew that they would be terrors in the academy, which would be good for it. But more importantly he gave a quick grin at the idea that he may be reading dirty books like Auntie Saeko. While his was nothing like that, at the very least he had already learned some information that may be valuable and he hadn’t had to do anything for it really. “That is good advice, and you should follow it.” He said with a nod, “As to why I would want what I read to be secret, it is simple, though as you have not agreed, I cannot tell you, though it is nothing you would need to worry about.” In his mind he finished, "Or tell your father and his powerful friends about."

When they began to go through the books he had stacked on the table, he grew a little tense, he moved to follow them and would reach his long arm to place it on the books as they finished, stacking them, and keeping them from causing them to go missing, he had no intention of having his privileges revoked. “Taijtusu, useful for fighting.” he commented to Karasuko when she started the styles, looking to the other one he nodded, “Geography of the lands prior to our current understanding of the world.” He explained. When asked if he was a straightlaced person Kyo paused, he was these days that was true enough, but that was because he didn’t like who he had started to become when he had been good friends with Miko and Jun. He had started to enjoy things that were not meant to be enjoyed. He had spaced out a moment, but he brought his focus back and answered, “Yes, I suppose I am.” He answered before adding, “Though you two would be disappointed in the secret that you are searching for.” Kyo would try to use his height and the length of his arms as an advantage to grab the song book he didn’t want them to find, as well as another before they could get to it. Kyo had few joys in his life, his brothers and his music. He kept them both from being common knowledge to the best of his ability, he knew all too well that one would be a weakness others looked to exploit, and the other would harm his image. Possible costing him in his pursuit of the power he needed, and in the business venture he planned on starting soon.

 

[Osuteno]

The twins had only smiled at themselves a bit mockingly when Kyo suggested their revenge. They were not planning anything direct, maybe just somehow slipping the group a powerful laxative to appease their own frustrations some and focus harder in other areas of the village. The two of them alone couldn’t handle troop 321 under any standard allowed by Kunoichi Scout regulations. But their recruitment problems were an issue for another time.

Commenting on the tales though, “Daddy always seems to know more about our stories than the books say and it is very frustrating since he won’t tell us much,” Karasuko said showing it annoyed her some as she eyed Kyo’s arms as they moved.

“So we have had to learn things our own way without having to get adults to think we are ready,” Yukiko said eying his arms herself.

Both twins moved simultaneously to hop and grab on to one of Kyo’s arms as he took the books, aiming to dangle from them.

““And we have learned it is very easy to test grownups by pretending to be too talkative,”” the twins said smiling like little mischievous little imps at this point.

““You are definitely a straightlaced Onii-chan for not trying to pull more information from us, we can keep your secret for you.””

“After all, if you couldn’t resist trying to dig more from us,” started Karasuko.

“We wouldn’t see any reason to keep your secrets even if we did promise,” said Yukiko without shame.

“Though we might tease someone with the fact we know things, we don’t actually share the details,” said Yukiko

“After all, it is fun knowing things when others aren’t even aware a secret exists, and occasionally even more fun when you make them aware there is a secret but keep them in the dark as to what it is,” Karasuko said with a giggle in her tone.

““If you tell us your secret honestly and fully, dull or not, we will tell you a hint of something interesting in return. A mission unlisted but available to claim, all one needs is to know the name. Yes this is the prize for playing with us, the details of a mission most dangerous. The clients suspicious, but payment most auspicious.”” The twins had a brief flash where their eyes turned a bloody red that went away quickly, moments where they got excited with their own play tended to briefly touch their bloodline, but they were not yet old enough or developed enough for it to stick.

“Besides, isn’t in boring that just because the clients are odd that they hide an A rank mission in the system to die Kiko?” Karasuko asked her sister.

“Very much so Suko, so if we can get this big guy to go do it and tell us about it afterwards, he can satisfy our curiosity and use the pay to buy more cookies from us,” Yukiko commented as if she didn’t mind Kyo knowing this was mostly for the sake of their own amusement.

 

[Hotaka Kyo]

Kyo nodded at them saying that he wouldn’t tell them much and knew more than the books said, he knew information was hidden away where even he couldn’t reach it, only for those higher up and more trusted than even the normal rank and file leaders would have. It was most likely something he wouldn’t get access to until he was a sennin, or head of one of the divisions, which wouldn’t happen any time soon. “I’ve no qualms with filling in gaps that you have been left with, I was highly trained before the academy but I know that others are not so lucky and the Academy is there first real chance to learn.”

When they hopped on to his arm Kyo’s first reaction was slam his other arm into them and pull away to get them off, and while he twitched as he unconsciously started to do so, he was able to suppress it and shake his head slightly with a slight smile touching his face as he thought of his brothers who had done something similar since he had grown and become as large as he was, though it disappeared shortly afterwards. “Grown-ups generally don’t think anything of the children around them; they are rather dismissive most of the time.” He added in his mind, “Even I’ve done the same at times with my brothers.”

When the two agreed to keep his secret, He nodded his head, “Good enough.” He replied to their explanation and that they might tease about it. While he wasn’t sure if he should trust the children with it, he supposed it would be easy enough to deny it if they said anything, though he wasn’t sure how effective that would be. “Your just trying to reason with yourself now.” He told himself in a disapproving tone, “Maybe there is more to it if you think about it.” Speaking once more to the two devilish children, “Honest and full.” He nodded; their mention of a mission wasn’t something he had expected. Why would they keep a mission unlisted? He watched their changing eyes with a bit of a frown, he wasn’t sure what had caused that, and he would need to look it up later, but it seemed a temporary thing, and while he looked them over a bit more closely, he dismissed it for now. It seemed that their payment for the knowledge of this A ranked mission, one that would surely be dangerous and difficult for him to take on by himself, would be the story of it… And apparently the purchasing of more the rather delectable cookies that they peddled.

The scarred man paused, his eyes growing distant and all expression drained from his face as his focus went to his tremor sense feeling out any that were around, searching the library for any that could possible over hear, even with the aid of chakra. After a few moments he came back and looked them over, pausing before speaking once again, “Seems we are alone enough…” he trailed off looking at the two of them once more, before looking to the book in his hand and gave a small shrug, it was difficult to say, even if it was mundane and would be normal with another. He sighed and began, “I have a love.. Of the old vulgar songs and music that are no longer played or sung… And I spend time away from my training and missions to sing and play the violin in The Nimbus Delectatio... More specifically the Ancient Forest, where I keep my instrument hidden in an underground cave I’ve shaped and enter through the use of ninjutsu.” Kyo said it in a slow and halting manner, it was difficult for him to voice this, even if he was sure enough that others were not listening in on the conversation, it was embarrassing to admit it to himself, and speaking it had caused his cheeks to flush. He knew that some people said that speaking secrets and getting them off your chest made one feel good or better, but he didn’t feel anything like that. It was just a feeling of shame, and worry that they might not keep their words, and at their age could he really blame them? Blabbing a secret to them and thinking that they would be able to keep their word on it… He was regretting speaking it and imagining it getting around to those that he would much rather keep it from, and causing him issues with his plans and ability to get things done. His face turned back to the mask that he kept most of the time around others as he thought these thoughts and he looked at the two devilish children and cleared his throat before speaking in a tone that was wholly neutral, “That is the whole of it.” He said as he used his fingers to slide the book that kept the songs from the pile that he held, “I was studying a song in this one.” His mind still filled with images of him returning from a mission and no longer being taken seriously, people snicking behind his back, and other such images.

 

[Osuteno]

The girls relaxed their mischievous smiles and sighed, letting go of Kyo simultaneously and sitting down. “To think it was a love of songs that we just traded for Suko,” Yukiko lamented.

“But it seems he is being completely honest as far as we can tell so a deal is a deal, Kiko,” Karasuko whined.

““We will do as we said and keep this knowledge for ourselves, in return just know to ask for the retrieval mission id CR8Q-6 for the clients Faceless Teahouse, or tell a friend if you think hey can handle it, we don’t really care so long as someone tells us about it and buys cookies.””

“It really is a waste though, you could be quite popular if you sang old love songs or such for some of those Onee-Chan’s in the village,” Yukiko said thinking on it.

“With how he looks there would be that ‘gap moe’ stuff those big sisters like,” nodded Karasuko.

““It is a bit silly to be ashamed of, but boys will be boys until they are men,”” the twins nodded as if they weren’t five.

“Oh but what if he likes boys rather than girls?” Asked Karasuko.

“True, there are a number of boys who have crushes on daddy.” Yukiko thought with a deep expression.

“He isn’t even close to being as cool and manly as daddy though so I guess he has to try harder and that is why he is afraid his manliness isn’t strong enough to let people know he likes music and actually appreciates classics,” commented Karasuko making a case for Kyo.

““But more importantly let’s see if we can find anything at least worth what we gave for it out of this,”” the twins said trying to take a look at the book of songs.

“What we should really do is get him to sing for us,” said Yukiko with a smirk.

“Either that or actually try and set him up with someone for the fun of it,” Karasuko said thoughtfully.

““If we find the time we could try to find him a cute stalker, someone passionate like mommy who cut daddy’s arm off with her halberd in tears at the mere sight of those new nurses trying to pull him into the lady showers for skinship,”” the twins mumbled in unison.

“Oh look this song seems fun Suko,” Yukiko said with uncharacteristic cheer.

“Let’s see, let’s see,” Karasuko had noted her sister’s amusement and her own interest was secured.

After reading it quietly together, both acknowledging their were a few words they just didn’t know, the girls giggled together while pointing at part of the lyrics which happened to be the chorus,

“"Βρείτε τον, βρείτε τον
Δέστε τον σε έναν πόλο και σπάστε
Τα δάχτυλά του σε θραύσματα
Τον τραβήξτε σε μια τρύπα μέχρι να τον κάνει
Ξυπνάει γυμνό
Κουνώντας στο ανώτατο όριο
Από τον τάφο του "”

Spoiler

"Find him, find him
Tie him to a pole and break
His fingers to splinters
Drag him to a hole until he
Wakes up naked
Clawing at the ceiling
Of his grave"

“How is he supposed to claw without fingers?” Giggled Karasuko.

“It never mentions a coffin but how is their supposed to be a ceiling for the man to wake up to without one?” Yukiko said with a grin that showed she thought the song was silly.

““Which one in here were you singing? If you sing us something entertaining, and this time we specify we have to be entertained, we will sing a song for you as well.”” The Twins still thought that Kyo was being rather silly being so secretive about so small a thing, but the songs in the book were interesting enough to rekindle their amusement. They were rather free, selfish, and playful little girls after all. Lacking playmates their own age they felt the need to play what they saw as the games grownups played with each other, and came off as rather unusual and unpredictable children due to their amusing combination of competence, odd insightfulness, childlike motivations (which only made sense given that they were, in fact, children), and their general misunderstanding of why adults ‘played’ such games to begin with.

 

[Hotaka Kyo]

Kyo had informed them that they would be disappointed in the secret, it was dull and he realized that, it wasn’t some great secret that would turn the world on its edge, just his reputation and ability to capitalize upon it. Their reaction wasn’t quite what he was expecting, though he supposed it was close enough, the disappointment was there either way, even if not directed in the manner he had been expecting. He was glad enough that they accepted what he had said as the truth, no matter how mundane it would be for another to have as their secret. He noted the information about the mission, taking a moment to actually use draw out to mark it down for latter reading on the back of a folded piece of paper in his pocket in Vulgar for future reference. It seemed they were still interested in stories of the mission, or other ones. Adventure was what they had mentioned before, he wasn’t sure that him telling them of the mission would be appropriate, or that the story would be a good one coming from him if he did. While he had done so for his brothers on occasion, they were mostly tells of the fights and how he got away with doing things that others couldn’t due to his nature as a Hotaka rather than anything particularly entertaining on its own. The cookies part was easy enough, he enjoyed them, and so did his brothers, they also made good rewards for others at times when they were required, as most people enjoyed some of them in some manner or another. Thinking of the cookies set his stomach to growling once more and Kyo absent-mindedly opened and began to consume some of the Super Caramel Skull Crushers, which happened to be the ones he liked the most of those he had purchased.

Kyo hadn’t expected where they would turn then conversation to after their disappointment, he was a bit put off by their broaching the subject of love and singing for others, both topics where not ones that he entertained, he was expected to make a good marriage that would help the Hotaka clan, and engaging in relations outside of that was frowned upon, especially by this father, who had made it known through the repeated beatings he had received when he had pushed the rules a few years earlier for simply breaching the topic with his mother and asking if it was really necessary in this day and age as he had tried to become more than friends with a girl he had rescued from a kidnapping. The more time he spent away from this family compound and way of life, the more he realized his upbringing wasn’t in line with the rest of the worlds, even those in his position weren’t generally raised in a similar manner. The methods in his family were extreme and he pondered breaking the rules he was harshly held to be them, and not the village and there much more reasonable rules in his eyes, every now and then, though he hadn’t truly done so as of yet. Of course that meant when the twins mentioned that it would be popular with the Onee-chan’s of the village he took their word for it, and he pondered out loud more to himself than to the two before him in-between eating one of the delicious cookies, “Is that so?” He didn’t know what the term ‘gap moe’ meant, but that was likely another issue with him being raised the way he was, though it could have also been an age related thing what with the gap in their ages being fairly large.

When the two said that boys will be boys until they are men, Kyo looked at them critically for a moment, his father had said something similar to his mother one night after a particularly nasty beating, one that had his father looking dejected and disappointed as if he didn’t wish to be doing what he was doing, but Kyo was forcing his hand in the matter. He wasn’t sure why he kept thinking of his father and his upbringing like this, at this time, and he wasn’t sure why but he wanted to prove the two of them that what they had said was wrong, but after a moment he backed down in his own mind from what he was thinking of doing and shook his head. When they mentioned that he might like boys rather than girls Kyo gave a small shrug, he liked to think about relationships with both, but he had never moved forward with either due to his obligations and the fact that he was sure that it would only cause problems if he did with either. He was sure his family would hate him if he did not continue the Hotaka line, they were a small enough clan as it was that going a route that kept him from being able to produce more members would be seen as a very disrespectful move on his part. One that likely would have him disowned and thrown out of the clan in disgrace, so it wasn’t really an option for him really, he might be able to convince them that another female would work than a political marriage if he worked at it hard enough, but a relationship with a male would never be acceptable.

When they mentioned that he wasn’t as manly as their father he pondered again on whom their father was, the picture of the man forming in his mind was so far from the truth of the matter that it would be laughable if he wasn’t more interested in meeting the man that had produced and raised the two before him. “Your father sounds like a great man.” He noted quietly, his imagination filling in things the more he thought of it. When the twins mentioned singing for them he immediately stiffened a bit, though he relaxed when it seemed they moved on to a new topic, though one that made him smile ruefully, though he quickly wiped it from his face, the follow up statement of their mother cutting their father’s arm off for the actions of the nurses really made him question who their father could possibly be, he had never heard of such an instance, and he didn’t know of any nin that were single armed still in active service. That didn’t necessarily mean anything though; he didn’t know the vast majority of the nin in their world, only having direct experience or knowledge with a small portion of them. He was certain he would have to look their father up when they parted, and while their mother seemed extreme in her love, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, as long as the damage could be repaired. He believed it would be easy enough now that he thought about it, what with the medical jutsu he knew personally and the fact that there were monstrosities out there forged from multiple people using medical techniques repairing or replacing the arm wouldn’t be to much a problem for those in the medical branch now that he pondered on it.

When they found a song in the book that they enjoyed Kyo pondered the idea of singing for them once more, this time seriously and not just to tense up and look worried. Could it really hurt to let them listen? The main problem would be getting them out of the city and into the forest in a safe manner; the Ancient Forest had various dire beasts, from squirrels and boars to more dangerous prey with in its limits that caused issues every now and again. And while he had made the area he used safe enough for himself, he didn’t know about bringing others to it. “I may bring you two to the forest to show you at some point…”He trailed off before adding, “It’s too dangerous right now though. ” He found he liked the idea of singing for them at some point, they already knew, so what would be the harm in it? The song they had chosen was an interesting one, and they might appreciate some of the other stuff he liked, and if he was honest with himself, then he actually liked the idea of getting another opinion on how he had progressed, hidden away in the forest away from the prying ears and eyes of the other nin that always seemed to follow one about. When they asked him about the song he was singing, he gave a small shrug, “It’s a song about drinking with the living dead, cornered by a cursed soul who can only rest if he is beaten, the singer has no choice but to challenge the dead to a drinking contest that has never been won. It’s… Interesting.” He answered them before shrugging and pointing it out to them, It was literally titled ‘Drink With the Living Dead’ “I won’t sing here, too much of a chance to be found out, no way to keep people out.” He was more relaxed than he had been earlier, he wasn’t sure why or when he had dropped the neutral tone and facial expression but he had at some point and was back to being open again. He paused a moment pondering if what he had just said was really true, they had private rooms in the library, for studying, that were sound proofed didn’t they? After a moment he shook his head, “There are rooms...” He paused again before continuing, “But it won’t sound as good as they are sound dampening.”

 

[Osuteno]

The girls exchanged looks at Kyo’s proposals and looked over the song he described before commenting, ““We understand you are mostly concerned about hiding your musical appreciation for the sake of your ‘reputation’, but we think you should be more aware that inviting two small girls to follow you into the woods might be much worse by several degrees for your reputation than whatever you think singing would be should someone not aware of all the details overheard.””

“We aren’t allowed to leave particular areas of the city without mommy or daddy, so for now the soundproof rooms are basically our best option,” commented Karasuko.

“Though following you into a soundproof room isn’t that much better,” sighed Yukiko.

““We are pretty curious though and we already offered a trade so it would be rude not to accommodate some to make it happen,” the twins said getting up with Karasuko holding the book of songs and made their way towards the private study rooms.

“Still how would one outdrink the dead Kiko?”

“It doesn’t really seem possible, does it Suko, since the dead guy wouldn’t have to worry about the poisoning of the body and organ failure… well we know a couple people who could do so, but the person in the song seems to be normal? I can’t understand quite a bit of it to be honest.”

“I know, neither can I. A bunch of the words are weird. Why would someone chase a worm? That can’t be the right translation can it?”

““How do you think he wins?”” The twins asked Kyo as they slid their library card onto a librarian’s desk to be scanned without a word of comment from her and a key to a private room was easily given over to the two five year olds, making her seem used to the twins.

It wouldn’t take but another minute or so to reach the room number on the key and enter, the twins climbing up into two chairs by a table and looking at Kyo expectantly.

 

[Hotaka Kyo]

When they mentioned Kyo closed his eyes and sighed to himself, he had forgotten their age while dealing with them, and they were correct with their assessment of the issues it may have caused. He had been treating them much closer to what he might do with an academy student, or someone twice there age or more. He would need to keep in mind their age when he spoke to them more than he had been, “Oh, right, of course.” He stated in reply, a bit of the embarrassment he felt tingeing his voice.

When the agreed to the room and started off with the book discussing how one would out drink the dead Kyo followed quietly behind, pondering what other things he has said or done that may be easy to construe in a negative manner in the past. Scenes of things he had done that he hadn’t thought of since then came back to him, and he started going over them in more detail, questioning the actions he had never done before. He paused a moment as he wondered if he would have questioned his previous actions if someone else had said these things to him rather than the two of them that had. Everyone had ulterior motives, and they rarely aligned with his own, so he may very well had dismissed it if it had come from most others.

When they mentioned the worm Kyo knew about it, or at least enough to answer, “The worm indicates the purity of the drink, and to eat it is supposed to impart good fortune. You consume it and chase it with the drink that it was in and take salt alongside it.” The old timer had explained it to him when he was in a layover on a mission a year or so ago, as Kyo couldn’t fathom why one would drink something with a worm in it as the man had done so with gusto. It wasn’t practiced much these days, with people preferring their drink larvae free, though some old timers kept to it. When asked about how he wins, Kyo gave a slight shrug, “The world is filled with the deeds of ordinary men who performed extraordinary feats, capable of doing what someone, normally considered their better could not do.”

When they finally entered the room Kyo paused, made sure the door was secure before facing the two, taking the book and going over the song in its entirety once more. After a moment he took a deep breath and let it out slowly before he started to hum as he set the book back on the table and stood away from the two. Singing for him around others was like coaxing honey that had to ooze from bloody teeth. It rose and fell, soft and loud as he warmed up and brought himself some time to actually be ready for his performance as the two stared at him expectantly. After a few moments of humming he stopped and cleared his throat. He was ready as he was going to get.

The seeping first bars of ‘Drink with the Living Dead’ began to filtering through his throat as he started,

Κάθισα στο The Dirty Devil, ένα φύλλο κρέμασε από τον άνεμο
Όταν οι πόρτες των νυχτερίδων συρρίκνωσαν ανοιχτά και ένας άγνωστος μπήκε μέσα
Τράβηξε το κεφάλι του από τη μια πλευρά στην άλλη και κοίταξε με ένα βυθισμένο μάτι
Ακούσα την περιστροφή ενός σκουριασμένου κνησμού, καθώς έκλαψε τη θλιβερή νύχτα

It’s an unfamiliar song but Kyo san every word with a certainty he didn't entirely feel, as he sang he stood taller and his voice came out more, it was oddly haunting as he continued,

Κατέβαλε το καπέλο του, έλεγξε το σπαθί του και κατευθύνθηκε προς το μπαρ
Περπατόταν δίπλα μου, ήξερα ότι είχε ταξιδέψει μακριά
Με μια φωνή τόσο παχιά όσο η λάσπη κοίταξε στο «κρατήστε και πείτε ...
"ένα πλάνο ουίσκι για τον εαυτό μου και ένα για το νέο φίλο μου"

Kyo’s eyes darted back to the girls wondering if his singing would keep them from getting lost in conversation, if his song was enough competition,

Οι προστάτες ψιθύριζαν σιωπηλοί και χαμηλοί, φαινόταν να φοβούνται
Σαν ένα φάντασμα είχε σταθεί δεξιά και βγήκε από τον τάφο του
Το πρόσωπό του ήταν ρηχό και βρώμικο, το δέρμα του σαν δερμάτινο δέρμα
Σίγουρα μίλησε σαν οποιοσδήποτε άνθρωπος, αλλά κάτι δεν ήταν σωστό

Kyo suddenly leaned his head back and let the firsts that had unconsciously formed at his side relax singing lower, but more fully in his sweet baritone,

Έτσι στρίψω στο σκαμνί μου, γύρισα σε τον και είπα
"Σας ευχαριστώ, κύριε, αλλά ακριβώς το ίδιο, είμαι σκουλήκια chasin αντ 'αυτού"
Μούρε και έσπρωξε το ποτό μου με τα μάτια μου κρύα σαν θάνατο
"Πάω τα ποτά, χτυπάς τα πίσω, αλλιώς τραβάς το χέρι μου"

Όταν είναι έξι έως τα μεσάνυχτα και το χέρι του θανάτου είναι κοντά
Πιείτε καλύτερα το ποτό σας και κλείστε το στόμα σας
Εάν σύρετε από το χέρι του, δεν μπορείτε ποτέ να κερδίσετε
Πήγαινε ... πιείτε με τους ζωντανούς νεκρούς

"Ποιος, κατ 'ε, τι νομίζεις ότι είσαι;" η υπομονή μου μεγαλώνει
Αλλά καταπίνουν σκληρά, έπρεπε να κάνω, όταν η ιστορία άρχισε
Τα χείλη του γυρνούσαν πίσω και ξεκίνησαν λόγια ξεκινώντας την ιστορία
Και κάθε πρόσωπο μέσα στη μπάρα γύρισε μια σκιά ωχρού

"το όνομά μου είναι Stanton Cree και πέθανα τρία χρόνια πριν
Πέταξα έναν άντρα να κλέψει το ποτό του, τουλάχιστον αυτό μου κρεμάτιζαν
Τώρα έχω καταραστεί να περπατήσω τη γη και να προκαλώ κάθε βράδυ
Ένας άνδρας που με ταιριάζει να πίνει για ποτό ή με τη σφαίρα πεθαίνει "

Όταν είναι έξι έως τα μεσάνυχτα και το χέρι του θανάτου είναι κοντά
Πιείτε καλύτερα το ποτό σας και κλείστε το στόμα σας
Εάν σύρετε από το χέρι του, δεν μπορείτε ποτέ να κερδίσετε
Πήγαινε ... πιείτε με τους ζωντανούς νεκρούς

Kyo started to come closer to the table, moving in a steady manner as he continued to sing,

"Τώρα περιμένετε ένα λεπτό, κύριε, κανείς δεν με κάνει ανόητο"
Έσπρωξα ξανά το πλάι του ουίσκι προς το γκουλ
"Λατρεύω ένα ποτό όπως οποιοσδήποτε άνθρωπος, αλλά αυτό είναι ένα παιχνίδι losin
Το να πίνεις ή να σύρνεις ενάντια στους νεκρούς θα είναι παράφορο μόνο "

He stopped before the table, and looked out above the two at the wall behind them, singing fully now, as if they were not watching,

Ο Stanton Cree έβαλε το καπέλο του και γέλασε ένα κακό γέλιο
"βλέπετε, ο άρχοντας έτρεψε την ψυχή μου για να σκοτώσει αυτόν τον φτωχό
Δεν υπάρχει άλλη επιλογή, ώστε να πρέπει να προσπαθήσετε να μου ταιριάζει με την πυροβόλησε
Αν κερδίσετε, τότε θα πάτε ελεύθεροι και τελικά θα σβήσω "

Όταν είναι έξι έως τα μεσάνυχτα και το χέρι του θανάτου είναι κοντά
Πιείτε καλύτερα το ποτό σας και κλείστε το στόμα σας
Εάν σύρετε από το χέρι του, δεν μπορείτε ποτέ να κερδίσετε
Πήγαινε ... πιείτε με τους ζωντανούς νεκρούς

Kyo drew out a note, bringing the song to a momentary silence, his eyes moving back down to the girls in a moment of fragility before,

Το μπάτσογκ κοίταξε σιγά-σιγά και ήξερα ότι μου κόπηκα
Εάν επιλέξω να αγωνιστώ τους νεκρούς, θα χάσω σίγουρα
Έτσι πήρα το ποτήρι και έριξα τη βολή στο λαιμό μου
Θα ταιριάζω με τον ποτό για ποτό, δεν έχει σημασία αν μου πνιγόταν

Ουίσκι, τεκίλα, βότκα, ρούμι ή τζιν
Δεν είναι κανένας άνθρωπος που δεν μπορώ να νικήσω, να είναι ζωντανός ή νεκρός
Έτσι το πρωί το έκοψα σε ουγκιά για ουγκιά
Ο Til Stanton Cree έπεσε και ανακοινώθηκε ένας νικητής

Kyo back away from the table, seeming to enjoy himself now,

Τώρα ξαπλώνει στο κιβώτιο του πεύκου και συνεχίζω τους δρόμους
Αλλά δεν ξεχνώ τη νύχτα που με είχε επιλέξει ο θάνατος
Δεν υπάρχει φανταχτερό ηθικό να πάω με αυτό φοβάμαι
Αν δεν σκοπεύετε να σκοτώσετε έναν άνθρωπο και να πιείτε την τελευταία του μπύρα!

Όταν είναι έξι έως τα μεσάνυχτα και το χέρι του θανάτου είναι κοντά
Πιείτε καλύτερα το ποτό σας και κλείστε το στόμα σας
Εάν σύρετε από το χέρι του, δεν μπορείτε ποτέ να κερδίσετε
Πήγαινε ... πιείτε με τους ζωντανούς νεκρούς

Πήγαινε ... πιείτε με τους ζωντανούς νεκρούς
Προχώρα ! πίνετε με τους ζωντανούς νεκρούς


Kyo finishes the song on one last note, lost for a moment in deep within himself, looking down at the ground before him silently for a moment before bringing his gaze back up to look upon those he had sung for. He was anxious, and perhaps a bit worried that he would be dismissed by the two of them, he was thankful his voice hadn’t croaked from the stress he had felt while singing the song, but he wasn’t sure it was enough to uphold his end of what was promised. Should he have sang something simple and easy to follow? Perhaps one of the little children's warnings he had started with? Kyo did not know...

 

[Osuteno]

The twins didn’t speak as Kyo seemed afraid that they would during the song. They weren’t uncouth louts after all. They had a proper grasp of etiquette and were waiting patiently to pick out his weaknesses and crush him with them in the form of constructive criticism at the end. However, they were pleasantly surprised.

Small, quiet, but polite clapping followed Kyo’s performance.

““Well done,” the twins said simply as they remained sitting.

“There were some parts you seemed nervous with,” Yukiko said tilting her head sideways towards her sister.

“But you seemed more comfortable near the end,” Karasuko said mirroring her sister and the two gently leaned their heads against the other.

““Though we still aren’t quite sure how the dead could lose such a contest if the man were as normal as his nervousness would suggest.””

“It is much easier to understand hearing rather than reading,” sighed Karasuko.

“That’s because we are still learning how to read Suko, we must be patient with ourselves,” Yukiko said firmly but with the same hint of a sigh her sister had.

““You have kept you end of the bargain,”” the twins nodded simultaneously and still leaning on the other.

“So as payment we will sing you part of a song we found,” said Yukiko standing up in sync with Karasuko.

“It is a very old song too apparently, what we saw in daddy’s book was apparently ‘vulgar’ translation of the other stuff.”

““We only know the tune because daddy hummed it angrily, and he never gets angry like that so we had to know, what it was.””

“Not that we really understand why it made Daddy angry after reading it,” Karasuko shrugged.

“It is a weird song and we aren’t really sure what a lot of it means though,” Yukiko nodded.

(Ooc: The following would be atrocious to actually put in ‘vulgar’ and have you translate back to ‘common’ so just gonna put it straight down and we can use our imaginations lol… and to the tune of piano man!)

““Thro’ the ghoul-guarded gateways of slumber,
Past the wan-moon’d abysses of night,
I have liv’d o’er my lives without number,
I have sounded all things with my sight;
And I struggle and shriek ere the daybreak, being driven to madness with fright.

I have whirl’d with the earth at the dawning,
When the sky was a vaporous flame:
I have seen the dark universe yawning,
Where the black planets roll without aim;
Where they roll in their horror unheeded, without knowledge or lustre or name.””


The song wasn’t a normal one to be sure. But it seemed to be lacking something important the twins just couldn’t provide, especially since it felt a little off. Like the words weren’t quite what they were supposed to be. An odd sort of feeling like having many eyes beside oneself judging openly but saying not a word.

““I had drifted o’er seas without ending,
Under sinister grey-clouded skies
That the many-fork’d lightning is rending,
That resound with hysterical cries;
With the moans of invisible daemons that out of the green waters rise.

I have plung’d like a deer thro’ the arches
Of the hoary primoridal grove,
Where the oaks feel the presence that marches
And stalks on where no spirit dares rove;””

At this point of the song the twins and their eyes took on that red color again, reminiscent of fresh blood but it didn’t seem to bother them. Rather it seemed to invigorate their performance more than anything as they kept going.

““I have stumbled by cave-ridden mountains
That rise barren and bleak from the plain,
I have drunk of the fog-foetid fountains
That ooze down to the marsh and the main;And in hot cursed tarns I have seen things I care not to gaze on again.

I have scann’d the vast ivy-clad palace,
I have trod its untenanted hall,
Where the moon writhing up from the valleys
Shews the tapestried things on the wall;
Strange figures discordantly woven, which I cannot endure to recall.

I have peer’d from the casement in wonder
At the mouldering meadows around,
At the many-roof’d village laid under
The curse of a grave-girdled ground;””

“That’s all we know of it,” Karasuko said in common tongue rather suddenly. The twins’ eyes seemed to return to their proper color as well.

“The translator apparently died, but daddy didn’t stop singing there when he sang it, he kept going but in the other one,” nodded Yukiko.

““We couldn’t understand it but it felt really spooky and cold and made our skin feel like something was crawling across it. It was really neat. And it reminds us of mommy’s stories about grandpa though daddy doesn’t seem to like his daddy. Don’t tell him mommy and those generous people have been telling us about him.””

 

[Hotaka Kyo]

Kyo hadn’t expected them to clap, or to actually enjoy it for that matter. When they complemented him and told him he had some issues he gave them a small bow. “You two are the first I’ve sang in front of.” He stated before answering their next statement, “Normal people are capable of extraordinary things, especially when they have no choice.” The two were right, if you were exposed to speaking a language it tended to be easier to understand it than reading it, especially if reading wasn’t something you were already skilled at.

When the two stood, Kyo moved to the side, so that he wasn’t standing before the as a performer. He stayed quiet, noting that their father had been angry when he had been singing it, and perhaps more importantly that it had apparently been translated from Classical to Vulgar, and thus something he could not likely come across on his own. Kyo focused on memorizing the words as best as he could, and found himself unconsciously tapping his foot lightly along with to the tune of the song that spoke of some kind of horrible being from what he could tell. It was an odd song, which had a catchy tune to it.

While he felt something was missing, as he didn’t have the source material he couldn’t tell what it was, but the way it felt was quite interesting. Kyo repeated the words in his head as they sang them, trying to cement them in his memory. When the Twins eyes flashed again Kyo frowned a moment before simply nodding, it helped with the song they sung, though he wasn’t sure why, but he was happy enough that it helped improve their performance.

When they trailed off, not finishing the song Kyo was disappointed, though he supposed it was a good deal that they had been able to pick up. There memories were quite good, truth be told. “Ah, it is unfortunate when these things happen, but it seems it wasn’t lost to the depths of time at least.” When they mentioned the feeling it had invoked in them, he wondered about the fact that it had felt like being watched earlier, was it a call to spirits or something? Or simply the way the words worked into your mind, making one feel them? Some songs did that, though he didn’t know why, but they were rare, and had to be done just right.

“As long as your mother doesn’t mind, I see no harm in it. But I’ll keep it to myself as you’ve asked.” Kyo paused a moment before shrugging, “Not all children have good relations with their family, disagreements on things can add up over time.” He wondered a moment about the generous people before adding, “Though I’d suggest caution around generous people, they rarely are what they seem, wanting something in return for their generosity, even when they do not speak their want.” Kyo himself was no different in this matter, so why would others be? Everyone had an angle they were pushing, even if they wouldn't admit it. Reputation, feeling good, power, it was always something.

 

[Osuteno]

““We are still a bit sad we can’t sing it like daddy can to be honest. When he sang it in the other one things felt all cool and spooky and stuff. When we just sang it now, even though we kinda understand it we only felt… like we were being watched?”” The twins had paused and looked to each other for confirmation even as they spoke in sync. Truth be told they felt Kyo was doing that thing grownups did all the time where they told a simplified half truth when it came to how the protagonist succeeded in his song. The world was unkind to the ordinary, and their mother’s stories were enough for them to know that when ordinary people were cornered by the unordinary they usually didn’t last long. It only cost a couple affection points with them, not enough to bother about.

On his other point about people’s relations with their children, the twins nodded ““Daddy and Auntie really don’t like grandpa at all, though mommy is almost as big a fan of grandpa as she is of daddy. All those generous people also really, really like grandpa though they don’t seem to like or dislike daddy much. They give us lots of presents though.””

“It is kind of odd though,” Yukiko hummed looking at the ceiling. “We aren’t exactly sure why they like Grandpa so much even after hearing Mommy’s favorite stories about him.”

Karasuko shrugged, “We haven’t ever met him either and when we ask the grownups give us dodgy answers.”

At this the twins started making their way to the door. ““This has been interesting Onii-San, but we have many more cookies to sell before it is time to go home and prepare for battle.””

“Mommy is taking us to Professor Pork’s Pizzeria today,” Karasuko said excitedly.

“Indeed Suko, they have dessert pizzas on the buffet and we almost have enough tickets for a Ninjatendo!” Yukiko said with welling excitement.

““It has taken since our fifth birthday party but we almost possess the 50000 tickets we need. Daddy said we had to save up our allowance for one, but we only get 500 yen a week from our chores.””

“But then Kiko did some math!” Karasuko said smuggly.

“A ninjatendo system costs 20,000 yen normally. But when we went to Professor Pork’s and I saw it was only 50,000 tickets, I knew a ticket was worth about 0.4 yen. Given that 100 yen will buy five tokens, you would first think that a token is worth about 50 tickets.” Yukiko shrugged.

“But as we watched other kids play games we saw that most struggled to get 10-20 tickets per token. A viscous scam.”

“But with that in mind we made a list of the arcade machines and their companies and spent a bit of our allowance and stamps to send letters pretending to be a business interested in purchasing some machines but we wanted to see the manuals first before we decided which company and which machines we wanted to purchase. Most sent back manuals for free and we just didn’t bother with the ones who requested a charge for them. From there it was a simple matter at looking at the specifications, and win range for each machine and riling our those that change based on how long it had been since someone won a jackpot for more consistent ticket wins.”

“Since then, Kiko has been keeping stock of which games we should play and with 1,000 yen, or 50 tokens, and an hour two we win an average of 5,500 tickets or about 2,200 yen.”

“In other words, we are able to purchase ticket prizes for about 45.5% market price. On its own that would mean our wait for a Ninjatendo is only 18 weeks rather than 40. But we also took up playing games on other people’s tokens for half the tickets and buying moderate prizes and selling them for 80-90% market price for more short term funds.”

“So after only five weeks we have managed to almost have enough! Not only that but Kiko is so smart she skips meals the days we go and eats exclusively from the dessert buffet, effectively eating almost twice as much in ingredients than what the kids buffet charge actually covers! Kiko has even managed to gain a bit of weight ripping that evil Professor Pork off!”

As Karasuko proudly bragged about her sister’s thriftiness, this last bit of detail was actually not supposed to be shared. Rather, hearing her sister share that information about her diet with a stranger caused Yukiko’s head to suddenly swivel towards Karasuko as she was starting to blush rather intensely.

“Ba-ba-ba-Baka-Suko!” She suddenly yelled throwing a book at her sister who dodged with a surprised and confused expression on her face.

“Kiko?! What is the matter?!” Karasuko asked, obviously having no idea she just outed an embarrassing fact about her sister.

“Bakabakabakabakabaka!”was the only reply she got as Yukiko continued to throw whatever was at hand at Karasuko, though only a couple objects managed to connect rather lightly.

“Is it the dessert thing?! But you love sweets? You sit there eating only desserts like a princess and it is cute Kiko! And you only put on a little fat even though you always skip out on physical training! That’s amazing isn’t it?!”

“Suuuuuukooooo!” Yukiko screeched, completely mortified as she shot her gaze towards Kyo with tears welling up in her eyes. “Bedwetter-Suko!” Is all Yukiko said before running out of the room.

“!?!? I haven’t wet the bed in three months! I wear big kid underwear to bed now!” Karasuko suddenly looked at Kyo looking embarrassed herself and tearing up.

“Kiko wait up!” She cried before following her sister, causing a couple people in the library to look towards the room two little girls ran out of with tears in their eyes.

[topic left unless stopped]