Books, Bloody Books [Solo Mission]

[Aiyo Shinbatsu]

The payout proceeded, and Shinbatsu inspected the books. In all honesty, Shinbatsu was considering changing vendors. This guy had all the hot titles, and all the interesting obscure ones. He had everything! Was it stolen? He could not be sure. The man seemed honest enough, and he did not seem like he was in any hurry. Shinbatsu figured that he was either just really suave about being a crook or he had nothing to hide. The transaction proceeded smoothly, and Shinbatsu let him go. He would keep in touch with the man in future instances, but for now he shipped all the books that he purchased to a forensic firm for investigation. If he was a crook, they would be able to find out. Shinbatsu really hoped he was not.

After reporting to the Kazekage Tower, Shinbatsu returned home. The day out inspecting books inspired him to write, and so he decided that he would pick up where he left off earlier.

I let out a sigh as I started looking around the room again. Nothing had changed since my last inspection; the teacher was still old and scribbling, the students were still plentiful and dumb, and the walls were still dull and white. Given the lack of change, I allowed myself to look past all this and toward the far right corner where I knew she was sitting. Surprisingly, she met my glance and smiled. I’m not sure why this was a surprise to me; she always met my glances, and I had no reason to think that this time would be any different. Before I could figure out that this should not have been a surprise to me, however, the bell went off, and our glance remained uninterrupted until somebody stood up in between us.
Once I got outside, I was refreshed by the spring air that was coming upon us. The sun was high in the sky, and the greenery all around was blooming and beautiful. Some people rushed from either side of me and headed straight for the street ahead before disappearing into vehicles and being forgotten for the day. Others took the streets on foot, a look of gloominess on their faces; they were probably down about the fact that they had to spend a splendid day like this studying for some exam or doing some kind of homework. I knew better; this was not the stage of my life that I was supposed to be wasting on the books. I lingered around amidst a few others for a few minutes, and, finally, she emerged from inside, a brilliant smile striking across her face once she spotted me. Even the light found her skin too glorious to touch; it reflected off of her skin, her face, and her smile, making it almost difficult to look at her, and yet at the same time it was impossible to look away. She walked toward me, and, once she was within my range, I wrapped my arm around her, and we started walking away from the school...

MFT