The Memoirs Of An Alley Cat. [Open]

[Kokomo]

There was something about the fresh summer air that was appealing and nostalgic. Sitting on a park bench in the town square of the Grand Palais, a scrawny blonde with large blue eyes sat alone in the warm summer breeze. The sun slowly beginning to fall on the horizon as the air above her head began to burn a soft pink and orange as it slowly crept closer towards the violet twilight. The twinkling of her soft golden highlights slowly died down as the beams of sunlight could no longer reach them, and her sickly white skin began to lose it's luster.

Abnormally large round eyes turned slowly from the scene of the setting sun (that seemed to fall faster and faster the closer it got to the edge of the world) to her malnourished and bony hand that rested carelessly on a mangey tom cat sleeping beside her. He was an ugly calico with patches of orange, grey, and brown fur that was greasy and matted from his survival life as an alley cat. His face scarred from numerous fights, and yet, despite his rough look, he was cast into a spell of sleep from the gentle touch of the maiden who stroked his vertebrae softly. The two shared the same malnourished look with jagged bony movements and papery skin. The lack of meal intake on their behalves making them frail and awkward. Though, despite their unhealthy appearance, they both had a soft and beautiful look to them. A palpable surrounding that they were gentle and kind and had just been mistreated by the world.

And a smile never left the young woman's face.

Her hand stroked endlessly. Over and over her lanky fingertips dragged across his back as his uneven, yet pleased, purr echoed happily through the empty Grand Palais streets. "We both have a lot in common, yeah?" Her voice was a soft neutral tone, and each world dragged together. The sound of each word was airy, as though she spoke with her lungs. A smile wide across her face as she stroked the feline generously, "We're so ugly and beaten, and yet we both smile so very big, yeah?" Her eyes batted, the smile permanent on her face. "My name is Muzai." She told the cat, as though he was listening. "And I think I shall come here everyday and stroke you, and tell you how beautiful you are, yeah?" Her eyes spoke sadness, but her lips stayed curled. "Because, that's what I've always wanted everyone to do for me, yeah?" The words were deep, and the meaning was sorrowful--so why did Muzai smile? She could say such hurt things and never blink an eye, as though it was impossible for her to feel regret or sorrow--or at least, express it.

"Won't that be nice? You're so lucky, yeah?" Her finger tips stopped as her large blue eyes looked towards the fountain as it shut off. The water slowly losing it's ability to peruse strength and beauty as it faded closer and closer to the ground until it couldn't even gurgle it's last breath. The sun now sacrificed to the horizon as the deep blues and violets of the nighttime air rolled in with it's tiny white sprinkled holes of stars gleaming far above. Her head turned upwards and her distinctly bony jaw pointed up towards the full moon and the summer breeze blew her fine blonde locks from her slightly-sunken in pink cheeks. "Beautiful..." She breathed in the warm air.

"Absolutely beautiful.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Base jumping. It was a hobby the Steward acquired not because he desired it, but because he had to. His injury at the hands of Okibi was fully healed, but for the sake of apperances the Steward actually worked at it. The Steward's form was falling. His metal encased form was falling quicker and quicker as was the nature of gravity. He had started off from the Kazekage tower and found himself approaching the grand Palais. To start the jump he had super charged the mark two and phase shifted to a very high point above and then began his descent. The Steward veered his form to the left and then to the right before finally activating the parachute. The parachute activated exactly two seconds too early and the Steward grumbled about it. This wasn't his best, but at the very least it wasn't his worst. As The Steward came down to land he made a slight miscalculation. He was going to be off of his landing by three centimeters. Again another flaw of this landing, but no one would have really noticed it.

The Steward made his landing and with it the parachute fell upon his form. He always hated it mainly because it was going to get tangled with his armour or his clothing. That of course is exactly what did happen because he was off his landing by exactly three centimeters. The Steward held up his palm and proceeded to cut through the parachute through use of plasma chakra. The Steward stepped out of the parachute and walked forward. He glanced back and forth. He hoped no one was watching this, but indeed someone was. This particular person was occupied by a cat it would seem. The Steward hoped that she was still going to be occupied by the cat and not his landing. Most importantly he hoped that said person would not start screaming due to the fact that he sliced his way out of the parachute and was still quite heavily armed and armoured.

 

[Kokomo]

"Oh, wow." The words were airy as the blonde breathed them, her eyes staring up at the most peculiar thing. An object, a large black object, was hurdling downwards at tremendous speed. Those eyes never faltered as they watched, her smile never fading as she watched curiously. Her mouth gaping as a she let out an excited gasp as the mysterious block expanded in size and cast a huge black cloud from the moons peaceful rays. Blue eyes widening as the massive shadow came closer and closer, until it landed a few meters in front of her. It was a strange sight, the large cloth-monster, and it left her head tipping to the side in a strange moment of ghastly wonder, only to be perked by a flash of white light that opened a door for a figure to step forward.

Muzai had witnessed the entire thing, and her eyes stared, wide and beautiful as the man looked towards her. "Oh, wow." She breathed again as she shook her messy blonde hair again, and averted her eyes to the empty spot beside her on the bench. The ugly tom cat had left in a hurry of disturbance and fear, and left Muzai to sit by herself in the dark, save the mysterious robot-man.

"You're quite the show, yeah?" Her airy voice said again, as her head tipped and her tangled blonde hair fell to one side as her bony legs crossed her ankles awkwardly. "I can't do something like that, yeah?" Her smile never faded as she spoke with a sort of distance in her voice and a slight amount of curiosity and thoughtfulness. A strange emotionally confused woman staring upon the man. "How did you do that?" She'd ask, not moving from her spot, and simply calling out to him with that big beautiful smile. "Magic, yeah?" She joked, aware of the possibilities in the Sunan city. "Cool," she breathed.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

The Steward's hopes ran dry when he was in fact noticed. How could he not have been noticed? Hoping not to have been noticed earlier was perhaps a bit too much to ask for considering the fact he was indeed base jumping. The girl who noticed him was somewhat stuck in a form of shock. Perhaps shock was too strong a word. "Ah no. Nothing truly amazing really."<i></i> He initially spoke as he attempted to collect the parachute. "Base jumping isn't too hard. It just requires one to put aside their fear of heights, and it requires one to have their timing right..."<i></i> The Steward walked over to his right now still working on and fumbling with the parachute. "Some people have neither, and in fact are prone to be late. Lateness is an intolerable in base jumping. Should one be late in activating their parachute then they will proceed to run the risk of a failed landing which leads to major injury."<i></i> The Steward made a ninety degree angle turn and continued to pick up his parachute. "I once went base jumping with another who claimed to be both fearless of heights and punctual, but I could tell by personage that they were not. The man in fact had his watch exactly four minutes too early as per the true timeline, he also had signs of improper daily preparation being a lack of personal grooming. Such tell-a-tale signs included unbrushed teeth, a lack of combed hair, and he had also spilled his coffee over his suit."<i></i> The Steward described. "When we were at the highest point of our travels he was breathing very quickly which was evidence of a panic, and his eyes were constantly widened. Then of course the instructor told him it was time to go, he screamed not yet several times before being shoved out."<i></i> The Steward by this time had finally gathered up all of his parachute and proceeded to tuck it into his bag. "So that is to say base jumping can be done, merely it requires one to meet particular requirements. Of course the matter of punctuality has some leeway by a few seconds, but nothing more than five or seven at most."<i></i>

Her next two questions threw the Steward off. He answered the latter of the two first. "Magic? No, not in the slightest. I think luck has a factor in this, but I am not going to admit to that right away."<i></i> The Steward next wondered what she meant by how he did it. "Do what exactly? The act of base jumping or the use of plasma energies to cut myself out? Or both? The former is done from an exceedingly high location followed by proper use of a parachute and ... landing with some form of grace and or intended landing zone."<i></i> sousuke spoke as he finished stuffing his parachute into his bag. "The latter well... I can tell you it's not magic for sure. Merely a combination of lightning and fire chakra at a condensed particle level."<i></i>

 

[Kokomo]

There was a clash between the way that the young blonde spoke and the way the strange purple-haired robotic man spoke. He spoke in long formal phrases while she spoke in abrupt casual phrases. His tone of voice was precise and low while hers was slurred and excited. The man's walk was just as precise as his talking as he moved and took exact-angled turns around his parachute as he picked it up and started a side-story for the young woman who didn't move. Her long thumbs ran their nails against the other as she watched him with those round blue eyes and her smile was soft and closed-mouthed now. Her eyes looked worried as she listened to the man tell the story about another man who was "prone to being late". Muzai pictured him have small round glasses and round rosy cheeks with a sharp nose and dark eyebrows as the stranger spoke about him.

"Oh," Her eyes widened as a grin spread like wild fire across her face, "Wow." She breathed airily again, before blinking a few times and her face fading into a thoughtful stare at the ground with wide eyes and a slight smile. It would appear, had he looked close enough, that she was murmuring to herself--counting, to be exact, how long five to seven seconds would be.

The purple-haired robotic man spoke again, answering (sort of) her question about his white-light that opened doors through pieces of cloth. "Condensing lightning, yeah?" She asked momentarily as her head tipped gently to the side and her tangled and messy blonde hair followed gravity's pull. "What else do you use that for?" She'd ask curiously, her thin eyebrows furrowing in a moment of confusion before fading back to that simple happy-go-lucky smile. "Maybe, you could use it for carving loads and loads of big pictures in the sky, yeah?" Her tone excited a bit as she stayed seated on her bench with a large grin on her face, her thumbs twirling against each other still. "Like white rabbits and kittens wearing mittens, yeah?" A nervous laugh escaped her lips.

It was apparent that, despite her confident facial expressions, Muzai was awkward and unsure of herself. The more tense she got the more she talked and the bigger her smile got. Her laugh was awkward and broken and clearly forced to try and gain a sort of acceptance for her horribly told joke. "Oh, wow." She breathed nervously, her eyes filling with fear as she looked back down to her bony lap and her smile faded the corners of her lips twitching a few times as her blue eyes stared wildly for a moment before she "snapped out of it", and looked back up with a plain and simple smile on her face again.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

The Steward hadn't been keeping count of the number of times she had been saying 'oh wow', but now he did. The Steward backtracked into the conversation and in his mind replayed them. This girl had said 'oh wow' no less than three times in the past six minutes. He wondered if the girl was easily impressed, or she merely lacked a wide vocabulary. What next she spoke about hadn't occurred to the Steward as a use for plasma energies. When educating Okibi he drew some pictures in the ground with a pristine plasma point to try and get her to understand the use of armours and his weaponry. "The sky...? I can make drawing in the ground by burning plasma energies into the ground."<i></i> The Steward held out his palm and began drawing up an image of a kitten wearing a mitten. The Steward stared hard at the image and wondered why he was doing this. "Kittens aren't supposed to wear mittens... since when did they wear mittens...?"<i></i>

After a moment or two of staring at the image, the Steward turned his palm skyward and drew a picture of a rabbit. Why was he ... drawing rabbits now? The image of the rabbit lingered in the sky for only a few seconds as the plasma signatures died out and faded. "Ah. It can last only seconds in terms of a sky image. I never thought of trying to draw in the sky before. I suppose this would be very useful in making distress signals for the Anbu. I never thought of this. Thank-you for providing the mental stimuli for the discovery for a new use of plasma chakra."<i></i> The Steward looked at his palm and started thinking of advanced mechanics in order to make the plasma images last longer.

 

[Kokomo]

As the man stepped forward and began to shoot the beam into the ground, Muzai stood up curiously,moving towards him with hesitant and thoughtful steps. He drew with the beam, just as she had requested (or rather, suggested) a kitten with a mitten. Muzai couldn't help herself as she raised a hand to her mouth and began to giggle uncontrollably at the sight of this drawing in the ground. The man not making any emotion as she stared at the drawing as well--but blankly. Zai giggling and trying to suppress it with her hand as her blue eyes looked at him.

"It's art, you can make anything to anything with art, yeah?" Muzai said simply, smiling largely. "And I think I would like, had I had a kitten, for it to wear mittens, wouldn't you? I wouldn't want my kitten to get cold!" She exclaimed joyfully as she began to laugh again, her weak and malnourished body shaking with the power of laughter.

The two both looked up as the purple-haired robotic man drew a lingering picture of a white rabbit in the sky, Muzai clasping her hand together in a moment of wonder. Her eyes glimmering with the bright lights' reflection in her eyes as she smiled blissfully. "Oh, wow!" She exclaimed again as she turned towards the man with that large beautiful grin, her fingers twirling her fine blonde hair awkwardly, "My name is Junsunia Muzai--or Jun. Or Mu. Or Zai. Or Sun. I don't care, yeah?" She said, extending a bony, jagged, and paper-skinned hand towards the man, " 'Pleasure to meet you, fine sir.' " She said in a mock voice of some stuck-up lady she had met once, sticking her nose in the air at the same time, before giggling again and smiling as she bounced on her toes for a second.

 

[Sunaku Harupia]

He really wasn’t planning on looming around town that night. Not at all. He returned a mission report, spent some time chatting with his parents, helping his father in the training of some younger Sunaku, had a nice and filling dinner. All in all it was a pleasant, if exhausting day. His father always knew just how to make his bones ache on the next day when they practiced...he could feel the muscles already starting to burn a bit. It was straight to bed for him...and then he saw a large, black from falling down from the Kazekage tower.

A few pedestrians also saw the curious anomaly of their everyday routine, but simply walked on not paying much mind to it. They were in a Shinobi village after all. Maybe it was some training, or some jutsu or whatever. Nothing they should really concern themselves over to a greater degree. Maybe if there were kids outside, but by evening most of them were safely at home, their parents quickly joining them after making their errands. Harupia though while an adult, was also a curious soul. The fact that the object fell down from the Kazekage tower also helped peek his interest. Was is some kind of experiment by the Kazekage Steward? Or perhaps a failed attempt of infiltration? All in all, he just had to many reasons to not go home at this point, as he made his way towards there the falling object could possibly land.

Now he wasn’t the best in tracking, at least when it came to falling objects...however, as he was slowly losing track of where he thought the landing could occur, he received another hint, in the form of some kind of lights shining up upon the top of the cavern in which their city was residing. Guided by them, he came closer to the small square with the fountain, where from a distance he saw that it was bunnies, before the image faded away. By now he could see the source of the image, none other than their amour clad Steward. And close to him was a women he didn’t really recall ever seeing. One which looked quite pretty, if...slim and fragile? He wasn’t quite sure because of the clothing covering the rest of her body, but her face made her look a bit...ghastly. Approaching the two he would say "Sousuke-san, do I see correctly that you’re also wandering to the world of art? I have to say, you have a true talent for any sorts of light-work" he said with a chuckle, remembering the Holiday party. Turning his head to the women he would say "I do hope I’m not interrupting an important conversation. My name is Sunaku Harupia, pleased you meet you madame" he said giving her a courteous bow, his usual pleasant smile spread across his lips.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

The Steward scratched the back of his heads. "We live underneath the desert sands. With the exception of nights, I don't think we have to worry about the cold. Even then I ... don't think we have to worry about heat due to the chakra crystals. I'm trying to design one to act upon force of will, but those are months off of development. Not to mention kittens have fur, I would think they are highly capable of maintaing body heat at a comfort zone ... presupposing that they are in close proximity of their mother. If not then maybe I would be concerned, but I would then return to the concept of their fur."<i></i> The Steward spoke as he tried to explain how it was irrelevant for a kitten to wear mittens.

Next introductions were in order. It seemed that the girl wanted to shake his hand. The Steward looked at her face, and then her hand, and then back to her face. He took her hand and shook it gently, considering how frail she looked. In a way she reminded Sousuke of himself, without his armour. "In the light Lord Koijin and with the blessings of Mother Suna I was christened and named Takahashi Sousuke the third. Though most people call me Sousuke."<i></i> By this time Harupia had joined in. The Steward coughed, "Ah that. Yes, well I've always been an artisan of sorts. I have my own book of drawings of various animals."<i></i> The Steward reached for his backpack and pulled out said book. He flipped through a few pages before passing it to Harupia. "I took a ... keen interest in Yume's fox companion CuRua. Such a fascinating life form if I do say so myself."<i></i>

 

[Kokomo]

"Just in case..." Muzai murmured, very firm on her idea of kittens in mittens. Her voice, however, was soft and almost heartbroken that he didn't agree on something so minute. Nonetheless, the smile stayed, just on a smaller scale as her hand reached out and the man looked at her with a moment of discontent. Muzai, however, being socially inapt, she didn't really notice, and a grin beamed across her face as he shook her hand.

"What a funny name!" She chimed, unaware of the inappropriate manner as she released his hand at the voice of a newcomer. Muzai took a few nice-sized steps back as the two greeted one another, chatting about art of all kinds, and Zai rocking back on her heels for a moment. But the young man, with the strangest dirty blonde hair and oddly combined with dark skin, addressed her as a 'madame'. Muzai blinked, confused, turning around to see who he was addressing like that, before pointing to herself, "Who? Me?" She inquired, curiously, confused by such a statement. "Hello, Haru-Haru-San!' She exclaimed excitedly when she realized he was talking to her, "This is my friend So-So-San, yeah? And I'm Muzai....San?, yeah?" She smiled widely, sticking her hand out sharply for another handshake, awkwardly. "Oh, wow." She breathed.

 

[Sunaku Harupia]

Seems he pair was having a nice chat by the switched of fountain, but not one he was intruding upon. At least it seemed so on first glance. Still, if they acted welcoming then he would be glad to join them. As he shook the hand of the lady, who introduced herself as Muzai, he couldn’t help but to feel a bit...weary. Up close now he could take a look at her face. She was a preaty girl...or, well, she could be...but the lack of nourishment was so evident it pained him a little. He really hated such a sight. Of course, there were various reasons for it. This could be some poor beggar women, with no home of her own or any way to sustain herself. That he could understand. But she didn’t look like a homeless person. She was underfed, but she looked clean... curious. Still, as those thought ran through his mind he couldn’t help but to chuckle a bit, hearing her having slightly difficulty addressing their Kage by his name. It didn’t sound that difficult...or did it?

He didn’t have much time to dwell on it as Sousuke addressed him with a surprising revelation of him being interested in arts. As he was handed the book he took it while saying "Ahh, I see. That is kind of surprising...but then again, the puppets you unveiled during the Christmas meeting were also animalistic in from. And I’m more interested in the relationship which the Inuzuka and their canine companions share, but Yume's fox is quite the character it seems..." he said recalling the last meeting with the girl as he skimmed through the book of drawings. He would briefly turn to Muzai and then ask "How about you? Any artistic endeavors you like to take up?" smiling lightly, wanting to probe out something more about the women. He kind of hoped she was in the shape because she had no choice...not because she choose to be that way.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

The Steward watched Mizu's expression. It was quite different, she maintained a smile but spoke as if she was deeply down trodden. The Steward beneath all his metal couldn't understand why or how she could do this. It didn't make sense. What next happened was that she said his name was funny? "I assure you that my name is not a joke. It's an old name, I'll grant you that but this is not laughing matter."<i></i> The Steward asserted. Then what came after that made the Steward mechanically twist as if he suffered from sort of glitch. Nick-names. "So-so?"<i></i> The words game out mechanically from the Steward as he tried to come to grips with the invention of his new nickname. Truly? So-so? His name was reduced to repetition of the first two letters? Harupia himself earned a nick name too of a repetitive sort being Haru-Haru. Truly? At the very least it was repetition and not a mistaken pronunciation. The Steward's glass lenses seemed to glow less bright for several seconds.

Oh. Wow. Those words. Again. The Steward came to a conclusions. Any further engagements with Junsunia Muzai were going to be repetitive in the extreme. To counter balance that to some degree was Harupia. The Steward's senior by two years and perhaps one of the few people who didn't get into fights with him during his youth. "Ah. Yes. Inuzuka familiars are often capable of learning the common tongue, it is extraordinarily difficult apparently. In the case of CuRua, he doesn't feel the need to speak but instead he is highly capable of expressing himself through ... human gestures such as nodding of head, shaking of head, and even more advanced glances. He once gave me a look to suggest that I was being unrealistic in one of my verbal assessments of him. It was quite extraordinary."<i></i>

The Steward pulled back his lab coat sleeve to reveal his watch. "Ah. It is time to acquire my evening sustenance. Would anyone like to join me in going to acquire a hot or cold bowl of noddles?"<i></i>

 

[Kokomo]

"You're right. I don't like it either, yeah?" The young woman inquired about his nickname, as she scowled and looked at her bare feet on the ground, curling her toes. "Oh, I don't know... Suke? Do you like that one?" She inquired, scowling for a moment, but her smile never faded as she looked up at the two. They spoke of something she didn't understand.

What was a Yume? Was it a talking fox? Or was it a human with a talking fox? Or just a really smart fox? Was it even a fox? Or was fox a new type of abbreviation or analogy? Was it artistic? What did a fox have to do with artists?

"Oh, no. I don't know anything about art--well," Muzai paused as she pondered for a moment, "I like to find art, yeah?" She inquired as she pointed to the ground where the kitten with mittens was. "Like pictures in the creases of the dirt or in the cracks of cave walls. I like to find pictures on the tiny bumps on the ceilings and in the folds of the concrete in old walls." Muzai inquired as she rocked back on her heels and twiddled her bony and fragile fingers.

Food?

Muzai panicked for a moment before smiling awkwardly and giving an uneasy shrug, "Yeah?" She agreed simply as she smiled and gestured for him to lead the way. Her steps shaky, but with a slight childish bounce. Her hair following with each perk of joy. "Oh, what about Usuke!" Muzai said cheerily, going back to the topic of nicknames. "Oh, wow! I love nicknames." She said, her hands folding behind her back as she walked. "It's like..." Her grin widened and glimmered "Having a personal meaning with each person you meet for each nickname, yeah?"

 

[Sunaku Harupia]

Well, it seemed that Sousuke didint take well to the nick-name... nor his name being called funny in the first place. Well, he did admit his sense of humor needed some tweaking. Just give it some time he said to himself. Though it was kind of inconsiderate to say something like that. But as long as the man himslef didint make much of a fuss about it,neither would he.

Noding as he spoke a bit about the Inuzuka hounds, he nodded with smile saying "I see...CuRua does seem like a cheeky little creature as far as Ive seen. Not hard to imagine giving you a look like that." Muzai atmpted to make a few new nicknames for the KAge, and explined that she liked looking fro art in rather...unusal places rather ten create herslef. with a chukle he would say "I see...the search for inspiration and muse is something I cn fully understand.There is beauty to be found everywhere, even if you last expect it..."

As she explined why she gave all the nickname she would say "Well, if you put it that way I can see why you like them so much. And if you wouldnt mind my company,Id be glad to join you in he search for some substance, Sousuke-San". Haru wasnt quite sure if there was any diference beetwen the two s words,but he gussed he would learn soon enough.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

The Steward stared hard at Muzai, even beneath his yellow glass eye frames he stared. He wasn't even blinking. Suke? "You do know that is a girl's name correct? I assure you that beneath this metal frame that I am a male."<i></i> He spoke first and foremost. The Steward hoped that two strikes was enough to give Muzai the needed signs to back away from the concept of applying nicknames to him.

The Steward listened as she spoke about art next. He coughed when she mentioned the picture he drew in the dirt. "Yes. Art does comes about in many forms. Be it atoms, or the stars I see from the crystal eye."<i></i> The Steward held out his hand and collected his art book once more. "I wouldn't call CuRua cheeky. He seems that way, but he truly isn't... and most excellent. Let us commence a search for sustenance."<i></i> Even Muzai seemed to agree to a search for sustenance. Then again with the way she spoke, the Steward hesitated for a minute. Surely, she must have wanted to do so. "It doesn't necessarily have to be a noodle dish, I'm sure there is a merchant machine of sorts nearby..."<i></i> The Steward's face plate retracted revealing his tanned skin. The Steward still had a scratch above his eye that went down his face to his cheek.

"Oh, what about Usuke!"

The Steward paused again and turned his head. "Usuke...?"<i></i> She was getting there. She was missing the first two letters in his name. This was if anything ... some fort of advancement. "With great reluctance I accept your attempts to say my name proper. Usuke it is then."<i></i> The Steward exhaled. His eyes shifted over to Haurpia. "If I get a nickname, does that mean he has one too?"<i></i> The Steward inquired before beginning his search for sustenance.

 

[Kokomo]

When you saw as much beauty in the world as Muzai, you no longer questioned it's existence. She knew that it was everywhere, no matter where you looked, and therefore could not 'least expect it'. The malnourished blonde was capable of finding the pictures in just about everything--including Usuke's armor that he wore so gallantly. In fact, he kind of reminded her of a knight, in a way. Only, in this case, he took 'Knight in shining armor' to the fullest extent. And, just to be sure, he made sure that she was aware of his gender. Oh, yes, Muzai was aware of this--or at least assumed as much--but nicknames knew no gender! Or did they? Oh, she didn't know.

"Oh, wow!" She exclaimed when Usuke accepted her nickname--ignoring the reluctant part--as she continued to walk with the two towards the destination. Her stomach rocked for a moment with that endless hunger she always had. Muzai's stomach was always empty, and today was no exception. She continued to walk as she pondered about Harupia, "Wel, of course, 'Haru'." She said matter-of-factly. "Unless, you would like a new one, Haru?" She asked, wondering if that nickname was too plain and commonly used. "Rupia!" She whimsically asked, stabbing at another nickname.

 

[Sunaku Harupia]

Harupia had to hold in a laugh as Sousuke reacted to the nickname. Honestly he wasn’t sure himself if Suke struck him as really feminine...though he felt a bit weird hearing it. Like it had a bit of a dirty ring to it...maybe it resembled a word from another language he once heard or read about. As the Kage reached for his hand book he gave it back while saying "Oh really? well, perhaps I didn’t really get to know him. It’s been quite a while since I last spoke with Yume and her companion...well, mostly Yume since I’ve no understanding of inhuman languages" he said with a bit of an awkward chuckle. He kind of wished he did. Who knows what secrets the animals prowling in Sunakagure had to share?

He was quite surprised how the conversation gravitated around art still. Then again judging by the light show which lead him here it could have been am ongoing topic. Regardless he was quite sure they would have quite a bit to chat about over the course of their meal. He smiled lightly hearing Sousuke be more inclined to accept the new nickname, but rose a brow as he inquired about a nickname for him. Unless his ears were playing tricks on him she did refer to him as Haru, which was pretty much the go to nickname for anyone he knew a bit. He rose a brow as she suggested another one, scratching his head and saying "Well, I’ve grown to like Haru just fine, but you can call me how you wish. Rupia surely sounds...different" he said tapping his chin in thought before saying "So, Sousuke-San here mentioned noodles. I could get a nice bowl myself. What about you Muzai-san? Any dish you would prefer to dig into with us?" he said with a curious tone. He was curious about her reaction to the suggestion of noodles...or, as he feared in the back of his head, any food in general. Her frame did not look healthy... and that meant she either couldn’t, or didn’t want to keep it like that. But he had a disturbing inkling it was the latter.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

The sides of Sousuke's mouth curled ever so slightly as a grin surfaced on his face. This was one of the few times he ever was able to have a sort of facial expression that was truly readable. The Steward's face looked like it was going to break or crack. The grin on his face seemed so ... abnormal. It seemed forced, but at the very least the grin surfaced for a reason. It would seem that the Steward was amused by Harupia's nickname and further acceptance of it. Once the nickname was supposedly accepted, the grin fell apart and the Steward's expression returned to normal. The Steward's eyes widened for a moment. "Ah speaking of the inhuman..."<i></i> The ground rumbled for a moment and the reason for that became very clear as Kitchenzilla came lumbering in. The mechanical lizard let out a series of woofs. The Steward merely waved his hand. "Calm down girl. I didn't break my arm like I did last time."<i></i> The mechanical pet let out more barks. Clearly the Steward had misinterpret what his pet wanted. She lowered her form and looked like she wanted to be petted, which the Steward did. "Ah. Yes. Muzai, please meet my pet Kitchenzilla... she goes by Kitchy for short because ... some people can't say things in their fullest and completed form."<i></i>

"Right. The Sustenance. There is a lovely rammen booth about seven minutes from here."<i></i> The Steward reached for his wallet which was inside his labcoat. He pulled it out to inspect what little money he had. The Steward was by no means a rich man, not rich like house Toraono, but he did have enough yen to entertain his query for food. "If we are financially challenged, there is another ramen booth ten minutes away."<i></i>