Breakfast reading matter [Study/Open]

[Aurora]

Standing at the front desk of the library was a civilian with long blonde hair and pink coloured eyes. While dressed rather casually in a sleeved blouse and a pair of black shorts, the spark of cunning intelligence within her eyes was easily noticed. When she asked the librarian about the sections holding topics such as politics, law and military sciences, the man behind the desk lifted his eyes up and peeked at her from over his glasses, taking in the eighteen or so year old girl. She gave a resolute smile, as if it was the most normal lecture to partake on an early morning. The man eventually scratched his head in response, giving up the letters of the sections where she would find what she had been looking for - J, K & U.

Mouthing a thank you, she moved towards the first section he had given her shortly after and allowed her eyes to scroll through the available titles concerning "political science". The selection was large, filled with writers having their piece of mind to share. Former politicians, criticisms, wanna-be politicians. All sorts of writers, one more credible than the other. Taking out a book labelled, "History and Politics", Asami decided a global idea on politics would not be a bad starter for the topic. She had plans of her own for the future, and so she needed to know what to expect. After another few minutes of browsing through the section, two more books would be added to the pile before she made her way toward the next section - Law.

Not surprisingly, the lore on law was that of Kumogakure tying in with the application of it by police, military and even hints of shinobi. While the KSIS Field Agent knew well enough what the law of her own home village entailed, she considered that brushing up on the finer details never hurt. If anything, the finer details of the law were a pesky cacophony of exceptions and irregularities that often muddled the more sober and cleaner statements of the law. Exactly those muddling details was what she needed to know, to ensure that as a KSIS member she always had a means of escaping should skill and deception not work in her favour. Any means to preserve her actual mission was a good means. Adding, "Kumogakure no Sato: laws, rules, systems, story" to the staple in her arms as a book said to have a solid foundation on the matter, the next section of the library awaited her - section U, military sciences.

The last section was thin in comparison to the others. Perhaps because military sciences were often considered as classified, perhaps because the interest of the common populace on the matter was not as broadly discussed as with other sections. After all, what was there to rant about the military forces or their weapons in comparison to the bountiful mistakes made by the government and the intricacies of law itself? When it came to weapons, the general consensus was either 'weapons are cool' or 'weapons are bad'. Rarely one would make a distinct difference between which weapon was considered an asset in war, and which one was better left out of the field. And when they did make they distinction, it generally didn't matter as the weapons were often outdated and out of service since newer, better means had taken their place. Only... such information was top secret.

It was nonetheless remarkable to note that Asami picked up a book labelled, "Book of Kinjutsu - Isaki Kushin" within the section. The very meaning of kinjutsu being Forbidden Technique, it was possible this little book had slipped past the watchful gaze of the librarian - shinobi knowledge as dangerous as this was not meant for the eyes of the common folk. Taking the book out of the shelves, she hid it in between the other books she had picked and added a few others to enrich her staple with more militaristic knowledge. With the large staple adding quite some weight, she moved over to the nearest table, placed her selection of books there and took place in one of the chairs around the table. That done, the first one to disappear under her blouse was the book of kinjutsu, her movement so swift it would have seemed as if she was just briefly tucking at her blouse to adjust it. Then, the first in a list of many books was taken from the staple and opened, its contents available for her to read.​

---

Entered with: Aurora's alias

 

[Aurora]

Very little to no people seemed interested in visiting the library in this early morning, giving the girl all the quietude she needed to proceed rather well with the absorption of her selected knowledge. The day would pass slowly as the girl flipped through the pages and her eyes devoured their content. Brain registering, linking the info to what she already knew and storing the newfound knowledge for later use. From her backpack she'd take out a sack with Kunoichi Scout cookies she bought in some tea shop, using the blueberry biscuits to fuel her brain's need for energy and keeping the hunger stilled all the while. Hours of morning silence passed, the sound only interrupted by the crunch of cookies and flipping of the pages.

The literature on politics provided her with interesting new insights in the working between Daimyo and Raikage, explaining the feudal-like system carefully as the writer brought forward the delicate balance of political powers. It made her think about how the Santaru ran their politics over their vast claim on minor villages, rice fields and settlements. And with it, the question to what extend she, as a member of the minor branch, would be capable of holding sway over such pieces of land. Perhaps given time, and when she was older, she could build up her manor somewhere in Kumogakure or the nearby settlements.

Slipping into the more rigid droning on about the laws of Kumogakure itself, the topic was more of a refresher of the knowledge she held rather than a true search for new information. Minor details, forgotten by time and rare use, would resurface as the light of knowledge shone upon the dark and dust that had covered it. It was chore to do so, but one the ANBU picked up regularly nonetheless. It was her duty to know these down to a T, only a sloppy ANBU foolish enough to let them slip into the oblivion that was the forgetful mind.

The new piece of knowledge concerning 'law' was about the underground. The law on the streets, as followed by those thugs hiding in the shadows. An intriguing read for a roguish ANBU such as herself, but most passages were written in a language she had a hard time deciphering. Rather, it was not that she didn't know what the language was - Ancient Kumogakurian, the vulgar version - but more that she had found little time so far to continue her studies on the matter. And as if the ancient language wasn't already sufficiently hard to properly translate, it was written in a hand-writing that forced her take a closer look at the scribbling more than once. Still, at a slow pace, the girl would pick up a variety of the underworld slang, etiquette and 'laws' that were applied within the darker streets of Kumogakure's criminal life. Information such as this, while loathed by most law-abiding ANBU, could prove useful. If not to pry loose additional information from the small fish in how to catch the bigger fish swimming in the polluted ocean of crime, then to improve the range of espionage as she added more languages to her growing knowledge.​

 

[Tanuki Rinko]

Rinko wandered into the library in a daze, her bushy tail dragging behind her. While her time in the Magdalene Order had forced her to rise early, she had neglected to turn it into a habit. She approached the librarian and rested her chin on the desk. "Heya mister. Do you have stuff on curses?" The older man flicked the girl to get her grubby face off of his counter and lightly sneered. "Curse seals?" Rinko narrowed her eyes. "Nnnnnooooooooo. Just curses." The gentleman snorted and shooed the tanuki away. "This is a building of factual information, not superstition. If you want to learn about such silly ideas go talk to a Tsuchimikado. But if you must try somewhere, I suppose you can attempt to find something in the folklore and religion section. G. For 'get out of the line'." Rinko looked behind her to find no such line had been forming. She clicked her tongue and trotted away from the crabby man.

Upon reaching the section she was directed to, a pit formed in Rinko's stomach. Why were there so many topics in one section? She scanned the scrolls and books for her keyword, but nothing stuck out to her. She instead chose a collection on different youkai. Her father hadn't specified where she and her mother had obtained the curse, but had given a name. Perhaps it was a vengeful spirit that had cursed them. For good measure, she grabbed a large scroll on kami and a small book of foreign demons as well, just in case.

With her selections made, Rinko made her way to a group of tables. At one was a blonde girl pouring over a plethora of parchment, and the tanuki girl couldn't deny her curiosity. She took a seat on the farther part of the same table and placed the youkai transcript in front of her. She opened to the index first, but found her eyes glancing up at the tower of texts beside the young woman across the way. History, politics, blech. Rinko had done her best to ditch the classes pertaining to such subjects as she found them unnecessary as of right now. Who in their right mind would toss a thirteen-year-old at a diplomatic meeting and expect good results? Getting her mind back on track, Rinko searched through the index for the name of her curse. D...Dai...Daikoku...nope. She slid the book over and grabbed the kami-filled scroll. She flicked it open, but accidently used too much force. The roll trailed off the table and traveled under a chair, finally stopping in one of the bookshelf aisles. Rinko glowered before swatting her end of the scroll away to follow its other half. She placed her elbows on the table and lowered her chin into her hands to face the blonde girl head-on. "Whatever, this is boring anyway. What are you doing?"

 

[Midori Futotta]

It was just another day at work the library, the place wasn't as busy right now. Most people are out doing shinobi stuff while some were just trying to have fun but you do get a few people wanting to learn here and there. The librarian was pretty satisfied that the place was as quiet and peaceful like it normally was before she heard something coming from outside. A loud shrill girlish scream that started off as low but as the seconds went by the screaming became louder before!-....

CRASH!

Something or someone broke right through the roof like a wrecking ball of the library, crashed through a bookshelf, then smacking right into the table! Dust and debris kicked up into the air along with loose papers that danced into the air. When the smoke cleared a huge gaping hole was on the side of the library's ceiling large enough for a person to fit through and laying on the ruins of the table was a mask man in nothing but pink panties on with a white and gold musket clutched within his hands. The rogue sat up then rubbed his head, then realizing he was in nothing but panties which he knew for 100% fact was a side effect from his kindred fusion the masked rogue furiously waved his signature weapon. “Dangit Kawaii!” Maru screamed at his signature weapon. “If you could make me underwear why the hell didn't you make me a outfit!”

A golden fireball shot out of Maru's forehead then his Kensei Spirit Manifested in front of him with her arms folded over her chest. ’If you wanted normal clothing then you shouldn't have used our fusion in front of that boy, you do know you're using MY body for your little adventures right?’ she gave the rogue a glare, refusing to help him.‘You embarrassed me so now I will embarrass you. Better be happy I don't shut brain down and make you mentally disabled for a day. A drooling, window licking retard.’ Well he couldn't exactly blame his Kensei Spirit for being my mad at him but it wasn't his fault, the weird monsters at the hotsprings had tossed him into the air before he could defused with her. He didn't want himself or that Genin to get banned for sneaking into the girls lockeroom so he just fused with his weapon then snuck the both of them out then poof! Critters popped out of nowhere, grabbed him and the Genin, then tossed them both into the air. Totally Normal.

He got up, then looked around at the damage he caused then sighed. Pulling from underneath his black masquerade mask a bag filled with yen then announce. “YO SORRY! SOME MONSTER FROM THE HOT SPRINGS TOSSED ME HERE! HERE'S SOME MONEY TO FIX THE ROOF AND STUFF." he wasn't really sure hope how much it even cost to fix them roof but he was sure that the bag had more than enough. That was the first step, the next was hope he could find some clothes put on. Why did all kinda weird things have to happen to him.

[Entered Topic With style]
[Ghost NPC Entered pissed and is Visible]

 

[Aurora]

With a blueberry cookie in mouth, her studying continued until a new member joined at her table. Asami's rose eyes would briefly shift to acknowledge the presence but she had not picked up a conversation as she was heavily occupied trying to fully translate the Vulgar form of Ancient Kumogakurian. The girl with the bushy tail, a tanuki?, had a scroll of her own which ended up rolling open and away from the table all the way in the direction of one of the shelves. Disregarding the odd distraction, the tanuki decided to pick up a conversation out of the blue with Asami. Distracted from her studious concentration, Asami lifted her eyes once again. Eyebrows risen as if to say, "Isn't that obvious?", before her eyes meaningfully darted over to the rolled open scroll that was being forgotten.

"I'm studying. Or rather, trying to translate Vulgar Ancient Kumogakurian. Could you please pick u-"

CRASH

Her words interrupted, the quietude of the library broken, something or someone was falling through the roof and direction their table. With a speed befitting a trained shinobi, Asami would stand up and jump towards the tanuki, grabbing the girl solidly and getting the two of them out of harm's way right before the table splintered with a loud noise. Books, scrolls flying around, dust hiding the whole sight from their senses for a brief moment. The librarian's jaw was wide open, distress on his face, hands on his hair as he watched at the whole ordeal in agony, and when the dust had settled to reveal a boy wearing nothing more but pink panties, an uncomfortable silence settled for just a moment.

The guy seemed to be unaware of his own predicament. Or rather, he knew, but seemed to hold little concern for his environment. First bickering with what seemed to be a spirit, then shouting loud as he somehow pulled a bag of yen from under a mask - rather mind-boggling, to be honest. The librarian at a loss if he had to shout in anger the boy had to be quiet, or cry as his lovely library just got destroyed, Asami sighed softly as she lifted her gaze towards the skies for a moment before checking if the tanuki had been saved from harm. Then, with a cold voice, and the temperature around the Ice user gradually lowering, she spoke up, "Putting the blame on hotspring monsters doesn't change the fact you are here making a ruckus. May I assume you'll get dressed first before you're going to clean this up? Hm?"[lb2]

---

OOC: Maru, the one person that doesn't know how to use a door xD

 

[Tanuki Rinko]

Thankful that the dull silence of the library was broken, even if for a moment, Rinko listened closely to her table partner. Perhaps too closely however, as she was taken completely by surprise when the young woman lunged forward and pulled the young teen away from the falling ceiling. Rinko coughed in her savior's arms, and when the dust finally settled, her hacking turned into a light wheeze. She assured the blonde girl of her well-being as the woman pulled away. "I'm okay."

It was at this moment Rinko raised her eyes to the catalyst of calamity, and nearly choked on air. She covered her face, to both hide her view of the man's jewels, as well as to conceal her reddening cheeks. Hearing her library buddy reprimanding the newcomer, Rinko too stood up and stammered at the man. "Y-yeah! Indecent exposure to a minor is a...a capital offense!" The tanuki girl wasn't sure if that was the proper term, but hoped it was believable enough. "I expect compensation for ruining my innocence! I'm a nun after all! Well...I was a novice sister for a few days...but that still counts!" She stamped her foot defiantly, only to stir the dust on the floor, causing her again to burst into a fit of coughing. She stepped aside to allow the 'adults' to converse without her for a moment, as well as to give the man time to get dressed, if he chose to anyway.

 

[Midori Futotta]

‘Well damn.’ the masked rogue thought as the woman seemingly didn't cut him any slack even though he was the real victim in this situation. Not only did he have to pay for the damages the the ceiling which he was more than happy to do but he had to actually stick around to clean the place up too all while finding him some clothes to wear. To top it off she was pretty mad at him for making a ruckus but he figured since he came crashing in through the roof that he didn't need to keep his voice down since studying for right now was out of the question. “Oh common sweetheart..” Maru began, gesturing his thumb into the direction of the awe struck librarian. “I already paid this guy-” then interrupted a little girl who seemed to be with the woman accusing him of indecent exposure to a minor! The rogues head jerked back in surprise, it wasn't his fault that some monster decided to grab him and his drunken friend then tossed them into the air! Plus he was wearing underwear at least and she should be happy that he had least had that on because when he was tossed in the air he lost his towel so he was sure as shit that he was flying through the air nude.

“Look I didn't ask to be tossed in the air from the hotsprings yanno. Besides why are you even in the library. Shouldn't you be picking flowers or something. ” Was all he could say in his defense, it wasn't like he intended for his day to go like it did. The little girl had also yelled at him that she needed compensation for her ruined innocence since apparently she is a nun and the rogue himself in another predicament. So now he had to pay the librarian off for the damages which he took full responsibility for, pay this nun off for something that really wasn't his fault, clean the place up all while finding himself some clothes to wear!? From all the donating he was doing and the community service work the tax people better not ask him for a damn thing. The little girl was probably from some nun charity trying to get money for some bastard orphans and took the opportunity to hold her hand out. Maru looked at his Kensei Spirit to see if she would help out, but since his life wasn't in danger she folded her arms then turned her back to him. Ignoring his pitiful looks leaving him to deal with this mess on his own. What he did wasn't that serious for this kinda punishment from his own spirit, so much for being partners. He seriously needed to think about getting a new sentient weapon with a cute girl spirit because his Kensei Spirit is broken.

He held his head then took a deep breath. “Fine, fine what do you want? Is it money or something? Do the lame grunt missions that people your rank do while you get the credit what?” He asked, seeing the girl was still covering her redden face then looked down at himself. It wasn't like he was fully nude since he was wearing women's underwear but now that he put himself in the girls shoes he might wanna get some pants or something on. “Right… clothes.. hold on.” He said as he approached the librarians stand, setting the bag of yen on the counter before hoping his stupid half naked behind on to the stand then checked to see if they had a lost and found of some kind. Usually people have left some stuff behind so he might could find something the cover himself in one of the boxes that was filled with lost goodies. Crouched down throwing stuff out of the lost and found bins with trying to find some pants in his size calling out to the woman. “Aye! You don't happen to have some freakin’ clothes with you do ya?” He had to ask since he really didn't like wearing used stuff but he was pretty desperate at this point, still tossing some lost stuff out of the bins hidden behind the desk.

 

[Aurora]

Moment such as these was where Asami wished she had glasses. Just so she could lower her head, frown and tap her glasses as she uttered a soft but straight, 'Liar'. Unfortunately, she didn't have any glasses and the man actually didn't seem like he was lying. His story sounded straight enough, if not complete. Like, why was he wearing girl panties anyway? Was he a perv who stole them from the baths with the idea of slaking his perverted desires? No. She had heard the spirit state something of getting back to him, so he was most likely actually the victim here. Victim of his own stupidity, but still a victim. Ah, if only she had glasses. Just so she could 'deduct' the whole thing, acting like she was real genius. That'd be so cool...

As Asami's dreams popped for the scene of reality, she disregarded his comment against the tanuki. Watched him move to the librarian who had a vein twitching on his head, looking like he was a timebomb about to explode any moment. At least he understood the decency of getting dressed. Only, that's about all he could do with it. The library was no clothes shop and what little was generally found here didn't amount to much on terms of dress style. In the end, he found himself requesting for clothes of another. Asami sighed softly, running her hand through her hair. He couldn't run about like this but there wasn't all that much to help him out with either. She was wearing a blouse herself but giving up that one was out of the question. Eyeing the tanuki, she instantly scrapped that thought from the list too - the girl was too small. Even she had a sweater to give it wouldn't amount to much.

"What a drag... Just sit behind that counter for a while. I'll get you something."

There was no other option. With a puff of smoke, she'd create a double of herself and send it away to get him some basic clothing outside the library. He'd have to do with a pair of hibiscus patterned shorts and a hawaiian shirt or something. The sort of stuff that came with thirteen in a dozen with a one size fits all shape. As the clone ran out, the real Asami started to pick up the books and scrolls that laid among the rubble that was once the library's table.

"Help me out some, aah... What's your name, tanuki?", she asked the flustered girl at her side, trying to attract her attention. And mostly away from a near-naked man that could be twice her age. He looked what? 23? And she looked... 12? 13? Well, certainly not an age where she would have to suffer such sights. Poor girl could be traumatised for life here, accident at the hotspring or not!

"What brings a nun to the library?", she'd ask with such casual air it'd easily seem as if she had not picked up on the exaggeration. Asami didn't believe the story the tanuka had spouted in the spur of the moment but the blonde often liked to act as if she was the gullible sort of lass.

 

[Tanuki Rinko]

Rinko lightly slapped her tail on the ground when the masked individual implied she should be picking flowers. Granted, she would in fact rather be doing that, as there are plenty of suckers that are too lazy to enter the forest and would rather buy them off a random girl. Unfortunately, with her curse, she probably would be struck by lightning...or worse...ignored. Seemingly in resignation, the guy asked what form she would take her compensation. Rinko was surprised that the man actually seemed receptive to her complaints. She peeked through her fingers to get a look at the man in question, waist up of course. Unfortunately he was masked, making it difficult to know if he was planning to follow through or not. She inched closer to the blonde girl in hopes of absorbing her confidence. "Credit. I can't touch money physically for...reasons. I'll get ahold of Pops after this and set things up." When the man turned, Rinko saw a flash of butt cheek and spun to face the rubble in embarrassment. Though...she couldn't help but think it looked surprisingly smooth and shiny, like a polished coin.

Luckily the young woman wasn't affected by the half-naked man and sent a clone to acquire clothes. As she began cleaning the area, the blonde girl asked for Rinko's name. "Tanuki Rinko. Great-great-great-great-great Gramps wanted to make sure everyone knew our family came from his youkai loins I guess." With the conversation steered away from the masked man, Rinko was regaining her composure. She asked the young woman for her name, as well as the rogue behind the counter.

After introductions, Rinko was asked why a nun such as herself would be in the library, and she almost dropped the armful of books she'd been collecting. "Hehe...well, you know. Um. Nun stuff." She walked to a table that had escaped the catastrophe and placed the books on it. "I was looking up stuff on curses. To lift them. Because I'm kind of a nun. Yup. Sorta. Like, I didn't get my nun badge because I had to book it outta there or possibly be turned into a Tenouzen mind slave, but I was there long enough to become a nun at heart. Even made some nun friends. Mmhmm." Beads of sweat trickled down her temple as she realized that this was probably supposed to be top secret information. "Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Anyway, that Kumo law, am I right? So filled with fun. We should talk about that!" She glanced at the mysterious man behind the counter. "Or monster stories! That sounds cool. And not confidential!" Rinko nervously rummaged through the fragmented ceiling in search of more books, avoiding eye contact with everyone.

 

[Midori Futotta]

Welp, he couldn't find anything in his size. This was a library so most of what people had lost were jackets or shirts, not even a pair of shorts for the unlucky rogue. Finally, his prayers were answered when the woman told him to wait behind the counter because she would get him something and he clapped both of his hands together then bowed. “Thanks! I owe ya one.” Maru said, looking over at his blonde spirit then stuck his tongue out at the spirit then placed his hands on the counter then waited. The blushing girl told her that he should pay her off in credit because for physical reasons, was she like allergic to money or something? Then again there was the fact that he was half-naked so perhaps handing her money when he was not clothed wasn't such a good idea. She told him that she'll get ahold of her pops and his face scrunched up. Like how will this whole thing work? 'Hey there! Kinda fell into the library half-naked! Your little girl probably saw a little too much of me but don't worry here's some money for your trouble!’ Now he dealt with some angry dad's before so it looks like he'll have to give this guy a shit ton of money if he didn't want to get beat up by some old bodybuilder who not intentionally exposed himself to the poor child.

“Alright.. just make sure that your pops..-” he cut himself off when he saw the girl quickly look at the rubble, was she checking him out?! The little pervert no wonder why she was blushing so much. “..Doesn't do anything like heroically punches me in the face or something. Hopefully there won't be hard feelings and he would just take the bri-... COMPENSATION for your troubles.” He winked at the compensation part as though he was covering up the fact that it was simply hush money so he wouldn't face any charges or anything. Then right on time the clone came back with some clothes for him to wear then he cheered until he saw that what she got for him was one of those stupid Hawaiian shirts and a pair of shorts the same freaking pattern as the shirt. He held his hand out as if to be like 'what the hell is this?’ but apparently the double didn't get the memo since it gave him the clothes anyway. Maru thinking about not wearing the horrid looking outfit was cut off by his Kensei Spirit. ’Better than walking around with only panties on’ his ghostly companion said, and made a good point too so he decided begin putting on his at first until the girl asked him who he was and the madman hopped onto the counter with his shirt unbuttoned still without shorts. “I am the watcher of the-”

’CLOTHES! MARU! CLOTHES!’

“Alright alright jeez.” He turned around, then hopped back down then began to put on his shorts. Deciding to keep his introduction short since his spirit killed the mood. “Yamamoto Yamaru. But I prefer Maru since it sounds cooler, nice to meet ya.” A boring reguly ol’ introduction. When he finally had gotten dressed he hopped back onto the counter again to see what the young lady was doing there in the first place. His shirt still unbuttoned and his shorts remained unzipped, the rogue listened to Rinko tale and it seemed rather odd. Something about mind slaves and having to book it outta there. “Well… if you have to be a mind slave to be a nun I'll give that a hard pass. I'm already a mind slave to my weapon.” He joked trying to lighten up the mood, then she asked about some of his critter stories and he was more than happy to tell one. “Oh I had a few experiences with the Critters that's lurking around here, I'm supposed to go on this mission to help prove that these mermaid people who sink boats on Friday don't exist. Just a myth that some captain trying to prove is wrong that if you set sail on a Friday you'll never returned.” He shrugged. “He had the ship built on Friday, the ship name is Friday, and the Captain literally orders everyone to call him Captain Friday.” He would've explained more but he was distracted by the child's tail, he was wondering if it was real or not. If he could give it a quick tug he would but apparently that would count as inappropriate touching since he did that before and gotten arrested for it. Well it was for pulling on the ears of a Kitsune but that was his first time seeing a critter like that. He figured touching her tail would be like taking off his mask, you just don't do that.

 

[Aurora]

Tanuki Rinko. A far descendent of a youkai? Not an every day story, that was for sure. Were she a biologist, she might inquire more about the lineage of the tanuki but being member of the Kumogakurian Intelligence Service, she was not keen on biological heritage. It was an interesting find but that was were it'd stop for her. After her introduction, Asami would give her own as was requested, answering in turn with a, "Asami Santaru. A pleasure.".

Rinko's answer was an amusing one, her desperation to avoid the topic rather hard to hide as she tried to explain what a nun was doing here in the library. Digging for curses, no less, so called to have them removed. Asami would give her a wry smile, not having heard of nurses removing curses in the slightest, but the idea remained an amusing thought. She was not so sure what Tenouzen mind slaves had to do with it, though. The topic would be shifted from her nun-ship to that of her revising books on law or that of the monsters that had thrown down the naked guy. Asami didn't really feel like talking about law, to be frank, the topic not only hard to chew through but also remarkably boring for any discussion that did not involve light-heartedness and roguish rebelry. Moments such as these, for example, were not to be sullied by brainiac subjects. A good thing to, for had they started on the matter of law the young man would most likely not suddenly have hopped onto the counter to start some serenade on who or what he was, only to be yelled at as he still had not dressed himself.

Her clone would form a gun with her hand and aim it at her own head, sticking out her tongue. Then, she'd mouth "Baka" in his direction before she poofed in a puff of smoke the moment she shot herself. He had his clothes, he had finally decided on wearing them. On second thought, these clothes really didn't fit him. She had known that, of course, but even then she felt the need to tease him by pointing it out, No offence, but those clothes don't do you credit, Maru.". Snickering. Perhaps he had been better off wearing those pink panties, after all.

With the last of the scrolls picked up and placed to the side, all that remained was cleaning up the broken table. Asami took a look at it but decided that she didn't quite belong to the furniture department of the library. This was a job for Maru, or the librarian, and so she rested her hands in her neck as she observed the two of them. As he told his story about Captain Friday, her mind would linger on his name and dig up what she knew about him as an ANBU of Kumogakure. Mostly a trouble maker. Or rather, wherever he went trouble either followed him or was caused by him. At least in this case he had made some amends for his disturbance. As his eyes seemed to linger on the tanuki's tail, she'd briefly follow his gaze before attempting to distract him from whatever lecherous thoughts he might have concerning tanuki tales. Who knew what a pantie-wearing rogue was into...

"What about this Captain Friday?", she'd ask inquisitively with a hint of curiosity.

 

[Tanuki Rinko]

With Maru properly clothed now, Rinko's heart was able to return to normal, allowing her to properly enjoy the interaction between the three. She swept the dust with her tail, gathering it at the end of a bookshelf as the masked man told of his next mission. "That sounds like a ningyo problem. Nasty, ugly fish hags that will curse people who mess with them. I wouldn't be surprised if one has a grudge against Friday." Rinko lightly smacked her tail against the shelf to remove some of the dust that had collected on her fur. "Pops and Gramps have more experience with youkai than I do, so you can talk about it with them if you want more information." The girl looked to Asami to find the young woman was awaiting someone else to fix the table. Taking this as a sign that Rinko too could take a break, she sat on the floor beside the blonde lady. She was interested to hear what Maru had to say. He somewhat resembled her father, in a way. They were both overly flamboyant in their interactions, and it always put a smile on her face. However, Rinko also was curious about Asami. Was she a prominent member of the Santaru clan? Or did she merely share their name by happenstance? She wanted to ask, but if this woman really was from a major clan like the Santaru, she would probably be accustomed to lower clans trying to warm up to her. Perhaps Maru's story would spark one from Asami as well.

 

[Midori Futotta]

'A Ningyo? That's what they were called?’ he thought. Now he had a name for the creature he would probably be asking around about them to figure out the best way to make them dead because while it alright for this critter to go around causing misfortunes he would be on that ship. But luckily Rinko's father and her Gramps knew more about the critter, better to go in knowing more about the things rather than going in blindly charging in guns blazing. Asami seemingly wanted to know more about this Captain Friday fellow, the rogue was more than happy to give the woman a bit of information on the guy. “Yeah, Captain Friday is a fisherman who caught some weird looking fish thing and got a fortune for selling it to someone, ever since the fisherman around him began to drop like flies. Even the new ones that he hired.” the masked rogue explained, kicking his feet. “All these accidents happening on a Friday, the fishermen now flat refuses to sail on a Friday so this rich guy decided to put a end of the myth of them being cursed once and for all. The man build his boat on a Friday, named the ship “The Friday” and downright named himself Captain Friday. So this Friday I gotta go on the ship to see if this myth is true or not with this Friday guy. More or less that's the whole story.”

With his story ended, the masked scoundrel wanted to know a little more about the law studying blondie. “So what about you? Whatcha studying law for?” He asked, genuinely interested. Honestly he didn't know why people would still have to study law since most people would practically take it into their own hands to stop evildoers, he thought knowing and enforcing the law would just come naturally. After all he wasn't much of a bookworm unless it came to folklore, sweet costume designs, and silly guides that he actually followed. Perhaps Asami had to do some written exam coming up to get some kind of promotion but from what the Anbu guy at the gates told him most of the exams involved intense physical exercise like walking through the mountains butt naked while performing some task as some way to test loyalty but he believed that guy was messing with him because he was pretty new to the village at the time since he had been doing a lot of traveling around the world.

Nevertheless, the rogue was still interested in that damn tail that kept moving around wondering if it was real or not. He found the fluffy tail to be rather adorable, like those cute kitsunes from Suna. While he found the fluffy people to be adorable unfortunately they would probably be ridiculed as though they were monsters or something. Honestly a bushy tail and animal ears were a heck of a lot better than the tentacle haired girl he saw around the heartlands who was actually a shinobi! Though he did feel slightly bad when the poor girl took his reaction to the wtfness of her head as a insult because he literally made a buffoon of himself by saying aliens were invading to some tired Gennin who was passing by and that she was going to lay eggs in their stomachs… Now that he looked back on that, that was a bit rude but how anyone else would act to seeing that? “Soooooooooo… like, what kind of curse are you trying to lift? Is it like some transformation thing that gives you a tail and whatnot because if that's the case let me learn that so I can turn people into adorable fluffy critters.”

 

[Aurora]

"A weird looking fish thing, huh? Intriguing.", she said despite finding the description rather vague. Sometimes it felt like no one could come up with a proper description of things but it was difficult to blame the memory when it came down to a single second granted impression. With the addition of 'ningyo' it somewhat made sense. A weird looking fish thing. Ningyo matched that? She couldn't say as she had never seen or heard about a ningyo before. Was it a monster of sorts? Was this captain trying to catch a monster and end it? And how did this tie in to the tanuki looking up curses, since it sounded as if the two could be related somehow?

"Would you believe me if I said I was trying to beat a ningyo with knowledge on law?", she said in reply to Maru's question, giving him a cheeky smile all the while. "I'm not so much studying law as I am revising what I already know. I'm a shinobi, so I need to stay updated on laws and regulations. Politicians are pretty good at changing the rules on a whim, you know. It's certainly not as fun as hearing about curses and fish-like ningyo though. In fact, it's more of a mandatory bore I need to get through for some future plans."

She shrugged at the whole ordeal and left it at that. The last thing she wanted was to bore people to sleep with heavy matter. This ningyo was far more interesting, for a first, and she was curious about the curses too. The 'nun' searching for curses was an odd thing no matter how you put it, though at least she was not so off when it came to the tanuki's tail. Tanuki had large tails. And... other things.

"I don't believe the tanuki's tail is a curse, Maru. It's a tanuki thing. Now, nuns looking up on curses on the other hand, sounds as weird as you trying to get people transformed for... petting purpose.", she made it sound bad because it sounded bad to her. A guy transforming just to get into the girl's hotsprings, getting kicked out while wearing just a pair of girl panties and now interested in transforming people for petting purposes. Did she even wanted to know where this was going to end up?

 

[Tanuki Rinko]

Rinko listened patiently as Maru gave more details about his future mission. Now she understood why there was so much Fridays involved in the story. This guy would risk a whole ship and himself just to disconfirm a superstition? It was pretty excessive, but he would certainly prove a point if nothing happened. Maru brought attention to Asami, but she jokingly brushed the topic away. It was true, law wasn't the most interesting subject to discuss, but she must have some kind of stories to tell.

Before Rinko could ask Asami about any non-law related stories she had, Maru spoke up first. He questioned about Rinko's furry appendages, and an embarrassed flush crossed her cheeks. Asami jumped in, clarifying that Rinko's tail was a genetics thing, and Rinko nodded her head in agreement. While having youkai ancestry made it difficult to bond with certain people, especially those who lived through the Demon Wars, she still never thought to consider her lineage a curse. Asami shifted the conversation to question why a nun would seek out curses, and Rinko flinched. It seemed that she wouldn't be able to avoid the curse discussion after all.

Rinko avoided meeting anyone's eyes as she went into detail. "Well, there's this person. She's got something called Daikoku's Curse. Any time she tries to interact with money, horrible things happen. She can never hold onto it for an extended period of time. In fact, it's like money just disappears around her. She has to be supported by her extremely rich father. She drains money so fast that it is impossible for her to live a normal life. It put strain on her family life too. I heard she's never been able to meet her daughter because of it." Rinko fiddled with her fingers. "It's pretty horrible. So I want to help her." Her body tensed as she remembered her cover. "As a servant of the All-father of course." Rinko still couldn't meet the gaze of the other two. Her intentions were far more selfish. It was her mother, in fact, that had been cursed, and Rinko apparently had it as well. She took in a breath to force her negative feelings inward. She finally looked to Asami and gave a weak smile. "Well, we both shared stories, I think it's your turn. Anything juicy in your closet?"

 

[Midori Futotta]

'So you could beat the weird fish by studying law?’ he thought about that for a moment. Since he had been on the wrong side of the law for a while plus he hadn't been a citizen inside of a village for like… years he forgot that the high ranks made new rules for them to follow. Honestly Maru just knew about the basic laws which was don't kill people, don't beat up people for no reason, don't destroy stuff (which is pretty hard not to do), and don't run from the village or you'll get your name in that black book saying you're wanted. But he kinda understood why you had to study the law because he couldn't go blasting any kind of critter that he comes across. “Well that makes sense, keeps us monster hunters from killing the wrong kinda monster. There was a alien girl around here who turned out to be a citizen in cloud. Even had tentacles on her head and everything but she kept telling me she was human.” He reached his hand to the back of his head then scratched. “Kinda felt bad because I kinda told a Gennin that we were being invaded by aliens and to run before she lays eggs in his stomach. I'm guessing my whole reaction to the ali- girl kinda took it as me calling her ugly but I was just trying not to have squid babies hatching from my stomach. You understand right?” He was a monster hunter after all so if she saw some girl with weird tentacles for hair the first thing that came to his mind was alien. He of course made exceptions for people with bushy tails, fox ears, and wings on their back. But there were some weird things that even he couldn't accept.

Back on the subject of the tail, unfortunately there wasn't a curse to turn people into fluffy versions of themselves for petting them. It was just something that people were born with. “Oh boo.” the rogue said before the girl was about to explain about some other curse and he jolted into listening about this curse. Maybe there was a way to turn people fluffy after all. However… the curse that she detailed made the rogue grow pale. A curse that causes money to disappear! That was like the worst thing that could happen, he would take a plague or have accidents happen over going bankrupt. Like, there were ways to cheat death plus dying isn't that painful since he died like… 4 times. A pal killed him to help him become a weapon, he died when some creature tried to eat his heart but he had some weird immortality he got from sand, he died when he broke his neck getting to cloud, and he died when he got burnt by spiritual fire from some sage only to come back into a new body. He could take dying a lot but not having money sounds like hell!

“Well… that sounds pretty… horrifying. If this father guy is rich he should hire some kinda monk or something but I'm guessing he was a little late on that.” He wiped his brow. That guy was a heck of a lot better than he was, Maru would've shipped that girl off to some orphanage then kept loving her from a distance not that he was father material anyway. Still the law studying blondie haven't really shared anything cool, perhaps she wanted to keep being a mystery. “Yeah bet you got something pretty interesting to tell us.~♥” he encouraged.

 

[Aurora]

Daikoku's Curse? Asami hadn't heard about that one. She knew about the Cursed Seal, but that was about the only curse she ever picked up. From the sound of it, the girl mostly had a hole in her hand, not being able to keep her money and spending it on just about anything she saw or wanted. A common 'curse' for rich, spoiled brats who had no sense when it came to money. But the story seemed... to go beyond that. Everyone could have a spending thrift, some couldn't keep money, but the story hinted at some true and tedious sink hole. Like a starved monster devouring money as its sustenance. Creepy. But there was something about the tanuki's shifty attitude that made Asami suspicious. The girl was telling the story as if she trying to share a story with them, but she acted like she was trying to hide something rather than reveal. Asami could only wonder why that was. After all, none had something to hide, right?

Maru's alien story on the other hand was just as absurd. A girl with tentacle hair? A cute idea. But how that hair somehow turned into an alien invasion and the implantation of babies into his stomach was a couple of steps too far for Asami to understand. The absurdity of the story threw her in a fit of giggles and shed some light on how this pink-pantied guy ended up in the weirdest of situations. An overly vivid fantasy, combined most likely with an impulsive personality. Even with the best of intentions, he probably goofed up more than he succeeded, but at least he sounded like a fun man to be around.

Eventually, the turn would be hers. She had to tell them a story that somehow trumped theirs. Looking up for inspiration, Asami had to think for a moment. Did she even have such stories? She didn't hunt down curses like the tanuki, nor did she meet aliens like the masked rogue here. She was a rather serious person, maintaining the law and hunting down criminals, but perhaps...?

"Well, my stories aren't anything that fantastic but I once had to round up a street gang. You see, they had been causing problems to the local shopkeepers. At first, the shop owners didn't think too much of it since one or two of their members generally walked away with baby stuff. Bottled food, diapers, that sort of thing. So they tended to discard it as the act of a desperate man or woman trying to do the best for their kid. But, as time went, things got worse. A box of diapers a week turned into a box of diapers a day, so to speak. One shop a week became one a day. And soon the whole quarter was plagued with theft on baby material. So that's when my team and I had to investigate the situation. Long story short, we eventually stumbled upon an underground laboratory bearing the marks of a mad scientist that had eluded us for so long. In there, he was working on a formula that rejuvenated the body so he could be granted a sense of eternal life. However, the product had been too powerful and so his lackey had turned into a baby. ", she said, the last sentence unlocking a chuckle. "Thing was, as he continued to improve upon his formula, he needed new test subjects... and so he ended up with a whole slew of babies in his gang. An army of babies. If only they didn't need all those fresh diapers."

The story actually went on there. What had been a drawback to his formulae had eventually given him the idea of taking over the village by having each of the babies be offered up for adoption. The horrifying part about his formula was that the people didn't lose their memory or knowledge, so you had members well in their thirties being granted a new start to their lives - with all they knew in life.

---

673

 

[Tanuki Rinko]

Rinko was relieved when the focus was drawn away from her. Normally she basked in the attention she garnered while doing business for her father, but sharing such a personal story with new acquaintances made her a bit anxious. As Maru added in a snippet of his alien tale, Rinko awkwardly smiled. While on the surface it seemed a funny story, Rinko knew all too well the prejudice that half-demon and youkai received from the 'normal' humans. She was fortunate to be born with appendages that were viewed as debatably 'cute'. Some she knew weren't as lucky. Then again... What if it really WAS an alien?! What if ALL youkai are aliens?! WHAT IF I'M AN ALIEN?!

Before she could dive too deep into this existential crisis, Asami offered an account of a mission she'd completed. Rinko listened, mortified by the thought of a baby army. Could they actually fight? Perhaps back in the day there wouldn't be a worry, but nowadays even an infant could technically pull the trigger of a firearm. And who could bring themselves to beat up a baby?! Rinko wondered what happened to all the lackeys. Did the mednin fix them? Were they stuck that way forever? Destined to relive the grossest part of a human's life? She wanted to ask, but the fact that Asami didn't give such details made her think that perhaps the mission didn't have a happy ending.

Rinko opened her mouth to say something, only to be interrupted by a loud rumble from her abdomen. She hugged her stomach and coyly backed away from the two. "Sorry. I didn't think I'd be here long, so I didn't eat anything yet today." She gave Asami and Maru a medium bow. "It was fun meeting you. If I see your names on the bulletin board at the Academy, I'll promise not to skip your class. Well, unless I'm actually sick." She turned on her heels and waved goodbye to the two adults. "Good luck with the repairs!" While Rinko didn't get the answers she was seeking, she appreciated the new experience with new people. But more importantly, free money.

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