Killing time

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A tranquil sense filled the air. The scent of spring on the atmosphere, a mix of growing grass and budding flowers. A young woman laid upon the strength of a large tree branch. Her white hair falling in a sort of braid, flopping over her chest. Her small body covered in a pair of black shorts and a black tank. Her dark blue eyes flicking form area to area, watching the maneuverings of a small brown and fluffy critter beneath her.

Syrene scoffed to herself, the memory rolling through her head with a sort of torturous echo.
'What the hell is wrong with you?'
'You broke his arm!'
'You're a psychopath!'
'You're a monster!'
'They should ban you from this village!'

Rolling onto her side, she stared at the swing beneath the tree limb. Her dark eyes showing a dark glow of frustration. 'It's not my fault he started it! He's the weakling who couldn't stop me!' In her mind she was completely normal. In fact if she hadn't broken then she'd be a weirdo. It was a training match after all. He egged her on anyways, calling her names and such.


With a heavy sigh, she tossed a kunai towards a small squirrel that skittered beneath the tree. Missing by an inch, it jumped up and practically flew over the meadow to the next tree and into a hollow hole. Her eyes rolled. Even these animals were cowardly. Yet somehow she did feel bad. She didn't like that feeling. Passing it off as an upset stomach, she tossed another throwing knife, landing far from the previous. Her nose scrunched. It was awful, her aim. Unless of course she was on an adrenaline high.. then everything made sense and then she could fight. However outside of battle she was uncoordinated and clumsy: a true embarrassment.

Her eyes closed as she thought over the memory, the snap of bones, the sound of a scream. Shouts had come from the nearby citizens and the way her teacher had glared at her. According to him she needed self-control and badly. Being alone in an area without people was apparently training, but she didn't feel any different. She enjoyed the rush of adrenaline; the high of the moment and in a way it was what got her to where she was. Unfortunately it made her 'rash' and 'hard-headed' unable to work well in a team. So here she was, being isolated as if she were grounded. For that, she hated the kid. It was his fault.. he started it.. but she knew she had to disregard the thought if she wanted to get anywhere. "Stupid people.."

Aiko smiled at Syrene, with intent friendliness. "Don't worry about it. Do it again, and maybe I'll see you in the Chuunin Exams," he said with a grin. A comical grin maybe but a grin nonetheless. He got up from his little perch on the corner of the tree. He walked up a short distance from her. His position was casual and maybe tired looking. It wasn't surprising that he would be tired. His chakra was pretty low after that whole thing. His eyes were sleepily set on Syrene, his face cool and collected.

He blinked slightly. "If you don't go telling people you lost with hardly a fight, then I won't tell people I beat someone my rank yet again. Hmm?" he offered. It was really a win-win either way. He hated bragging, but when it came down to it, he had a lot he could brag about. He then noted a noise... disturbing. It was... his metabolism. It cried out for something to consume. He looked at his stomach cavity and then looked back at Syrene with, "You know anywhere good to eat? I can pay."

He wasn't really into the whole dating thing, but hanging out and eating something was a completely different thing. Even if it is the same mechanics, at least he didn't have to bring much to the table in terms of display to hang out.

Syrene held in a laugh at the boy. He looked like he was going to pass out from exhaustion, but yet it was more of a look of boredom than anything. He walked forward causing Sy to tense a bit, still unerved from being close to anyone. She didn't trust him yet, but at least she was allowing him to know her without her breaking something, whether it having been his or hers.

With a bit of concentration, she remembered he wasn't going to attack her. He didn't seem to be like her. Based on his personality he would rather laze about than fight again and his chakra seemed to be fairly low anyways. As his stomach growled she almost jumped, expecting some sort of ambush. Yet her brain finally responded and reminded her it was nothing dangerous. She laughed lightly and grinned slyly, the way she did when she was relaxing if a bit. "Alright deal."

Somewhere to eat? She wasn't supposed to leave this spot, but then again Syrene was known to play hooky... often. Her own stomach gurgled. How long had she been there? Two hours? Three? She was uncertain however she did know it was long enough that it was eating time. Blushing faintly from her fatigue and growling stomach, her eyes focused, looking down at its treacherous sound. "Yeah I know a shop nearby for food. I think I have a few bucks to spare, after all you did wander all the way into foreign territory. What kind of person would I be if I didn't offer you something to eat?"

Her body turned as her stomach let off another soft howl. All the struggling hadn't helped. Why did she feel embarrassed anyways? It wasn't like she was the 'lady' type. Yet she still seemed as insecure and shy as any other woman when she wasn't trying to be a bad-ass. Her feet carried her as she began targeting the ramen shop. "I don't have a lot of money, hope ramen's okay.."

Aiko chuckled as he managed to hear the soft grumbling of Syrene's stomach in unison with his own. It was funny really, though it was probably him mentioning the food. She instantly muttered something about having a few bucks and then instantly went of somewhere. However Aiko was partially a gentleman, or something. He walked behind her a somewhat close distance. Not too close of course, but he wasn't going to lose track of the person leading his stomach to food.

He smiled courteously, inwardly planning to take the bill. He couldn't really let Syrene pay after his punishing her. He simply said, "Ramen is fine. If that's what you want." It was implied that he WAS paying the bill. He figured he was rude if he didn't. He had plenty of money as he planned to eat on his travelling despite having mostly sleepwalked here.

Syrene walked quietly despite the cracks of twigs and crumple of leaves under her feet. Her mind focused on something other than aggression; food. her eyes furrowed as the shop came into view. The keeper eyed her carefully as the cook seemed to flee into the back of the small open shop. However frightened the woman was, the man did not show and simply grinned. "Lil Sy! You look pissed. Oh wait that's your thinking face, isn't it?" He teased like an uncle would his niece. "Hungry? I'll make up a.." He blinked a couple times, seeing Aiko following behind her. "Uhmm you fightin in my store? I hope not."

Syrene rubbed her arm, "No actually I'm not. I came to eat with someone.." Her voice was soft and almost muffled and she blushed at the man's shocked look. He rubbed his eyes and shook his head, grumbling in disbelief.

"Well I'll be duked... you lose a fight and now you have to buy him lunch?" He asked, rubbing his jaw.

"N-No!" She shouted in a baffled and stuttered tone, flustered. Her face red. "I-I actually volunteered to buy him food."

"Oh my.." Almost as if someone slapped him, the man took a step back. "Well I'll be damned... Alright..." Turning he began walking to the kitchen. "Take a seat and I'll have both bowls out soon."

Syrene grumbled a thanks and sat, hands covering her eyes as she sighed. "Stupid old man.." She muttered and looked away. Though her words were harsh it seemed she held nothing but respect for him. It seemed Sy was prone to push people away or maybe it was the only way she actually knew how to show affection. Her arms tensed and she turned to the boy. "So where you from anyways?" Her nose scrunched in thought. "Aiko, right?"

Aiko walked into the Ramen Shop and looked upon the conversation and shenanigans that went on with a bored stare. It was a lot like verbal scuffle between family members. He would laugh, but his parents were too busy studying medicines to have such shenanigans and as such, he found little humor in it. Aiko took a seat when the conversation was settled.

Aiko smiled as he was brought up. It turned out that despite his headband clearly present on his person, Syrene wasn't familiar with villages and their symbols. It was.... saddening to say the least but overall not that bad. He'd seen worse cases where people thought that their village was its own planet and the universe revolved around it. He nodded when she guessed his name from short term memory, and said, "Yeah. I'm from the Hidden Cloud Village in Lightning Country."

He stretched slightly and waited for the ramen to arrive. He sat back against the small back of the bar-stool that was there to sit on. He yawned a bit with a tiresome look to him. He smelled the air, determining todays flavor.... beef? chicken? Maybe shrimp... he looked over at Syrene and figured he could chew the fat for a while, "So why were you out there all alone anyways?"

Syrene nodded. Cloud? Well she'd never met anyone outside the village, well noone she hadn't brutally maimed or killed. She pondered that fact and looked down at her hands as they fell onto the counter before her, gently overlapping and drumming softly. "Long way to walk.." Her words were soft and gentle oddly enough. She twitched her nose and eyed the banner over the store. What's keeping the old man.. oh right.. he's making two.. that would take longer, huh... Damn..

Blinking, she turned and gave a coy, restrained smile. "Uhmm I got in trouble. I.. broke a boy's arm yesterday and sent him to the hospital.." She looked away and sighed. "He called me stupid, weak etc and I just lost it." She laughed nervously and adjusted in her seat. "I know a real shocker.. isn't it? That I'd lose control?"

Running her tongue over her lips she pursed them and shook her head. "I honestly don't know why I do it. It's just like.. a wave of anger.. A surge of adrenaline. I enjoy it.. that rush when I'm in a frenzy." Now biting her lip she looked away and shirked slightly. "I know it's not healthy, but I can't help it... I can't.. stop myself..." She laughed limply and looked at him, her hair falling to the side of her face gently "Maybe that's why I'm a bully... I can't really control myself.. I've killed people before.. I lack remorse.." Her fists clenched and her head snapped up. "IS THE FOOD READY YET OLD MAN?!" She shouted masking the subject quickly. This wasn't a time to share herself. Not to someone she barely knew.

Aiko nodded as he heard a description of what Syrene did and why she did it. "Hmm... I see," he said with some sort of empathetic mutter as he tried to take it all in and come out with an answer. He stared at the counter in front of him and wondered for a while. No remorse, mindlessly attacking, adrenaline junkie? Was that why he could make her feel bad? She had no adrenaline when she knew she was beaten... perhaps it was a suppressant for her emotions. But why?

He looked back up as she called out to the old guy who cooked the stuff. "So I'll note that you like bringing pain and receiving pain," he said. It was semi flirtatious, but really Aiko didn't much notice it himself. Too tired to take note of his own flaw of mindlessly warping into tones of emotions he would be feeling when tired. He yawned again, "I figure myself to just love the fact that when I sleep, I dream. As long as I can dream, I have no reason to really wake up, ya know? I mean, all it is with my life is work work work. Never anything fun. I'm the tactical expert of my class and I still find myself without reason to wake up in the morning."

He looked up at the paper lantern that lit the place. "Light is my dreams' worst enemy and my life's best friend. Without light, there isn't a shadow. However with light, I wake up... it is a vicious circle really." He sighed, "If I die, I no longer dream, just sleep eternally. I can only sleep if there is a dream, no peace without something to occupy my mind."

With that he simply concluded, "So, I wake up to fight. I fight to live. I live to sleep, and sleep to dream. Such a simple cycle makes up what I have to deal with. This, and being a child prodigy I suppose."

Syrene blushed faintly as he so indiscreetly implied that she had a love of pain. So.. that made her a masochist.. didn't it? She shifted uncomfortably in her seat and coughed. "Yeah I guess that's something to note..." Her voice squeaked slightly, making her feel stupid and frustrated. As he spoke she listened intently despite what her face portrayed. Her eyes dipped and she contemplated it, mulling it over in her head. Life was a cycle. Theirs were different he lived to dream.. she slept simply to fight and reach an adrenaline high. It ran through her mind, those times in the past when she felt overrun with it; the feeling of ecstasy. However after she had killed she seemed to find a place to hang her head and cry; a small sanctuary away from peering eyes. Her reputation was something she didn't want to ruin, her image as her brother's stubborn and hard-headed, arrogant little sister.

There was a moment of silence as Syrene pondered. The kid was wise for his age it seemed. Though lazy, he seemed to know where his head was. Maybe that's why he so easily beat Syrene at her own game essentially. As the bowls were delivered she picked up the chopsticks and twirled the noodles in a bored sort of way. He was too deep. The thinking too much, she hated thinking, impulse was always her preferred reaction to life. Sure she'd nearly died because of it and lost several teammates, but hell it was fun! Taking a mouthful of noodles, she nodded and proceeded to chew, unsure how to approach a topic. She was used to people being gone by now. Her mind wandered to thoughts of her brother, wondering how he was... both of them. Swallowing she looked at the food owner and grinned devilishly. "Not too bad old man."

He snorted and turned away. "I'll take that as a compliment." His voice was a deep and thorough grunt as he began washing out glasses. However her diversion didn't work as he set off a sort of aura that said 'This is your conversation, stop using me as a distraction'. Awkward silence made its nest quickly.

Aiko nodded as he saw the food come. Syrene seemed to be trying to contemplate his words at the moments before. However she took time to note how good the ramen was. Maybe it was just awkward for her to have someone hanging around. He seemed to be among the few that would stand her.

He rubbed his shoulder with his opposite arm as he picked up some of the noodles with the provided chopsticks. He slurped up some noodles casually. He didn't quite get why Syrene was interrupting food time to compliment the chef. It was quite typical ramen nothing too special. The kind he could have made at home. The broth was way better than the kind manufactured in the Cloud though.

He smiled a bit and then noticed something. Something strange. He stopped everything, and brought on a cold silence. For a few moments... it was as if he was dead. Until... he said something about it. "Why... are there glasses being washed?" he asked. It was something that he couldn't stand when there was something to COMPLETELY defeat the purpose of something. He needed to point out irony. "Do they serve drinks here? That completely defeats the purpose of specializing in soup though!" He seemed to be having a spasm of OCD at this minor detail. Something this ironic deserved attention.

Syrene was casually eating, the silence sitting in before she stopped to look at the boy. He tensed, and suddenly began freaking out about something. Slightly disturbed, Syrene swallowed her mouthful and arched a brow. "The hell's your problem? So what if they serve drinks here. Some people like to have water with their ramen. Would you rather drink from a cup that who knows who drank from it?" She sniffed and rolled her eyes. "Geez way to be a drama queen, Aiko." She didn't get it. It was like a wind flew straight over her head. Her brain was a bit slower than most and it was beginning to show that she was completely oblivious to interacting with people. She continued with her eating afterwards, acting as if nothing happened.

Aiko stopped himself before he went all out with this whole battle of logic he had set up. He was already 3 moves ahead of these people in terms of logical strategy, but he figured the best strategy was to shut up and eat. He shrugged and started eating the ramen. He figured being dramatic was odd for him, and even more so... work. He hated work. He filled himself up with the ramen and managed to down a whole bowl.

He drank the broth down and wiped the remains from his mouth. He smiled a bit, and sat back casually waiting for Syrene to finish her bowl. He stared at the simple menu that said 'Ramen of the Day' with a price. He started the math and finished it within a second. He slipped out his wallet casually and placed exact change on the table as if he did it all the time, and he did. "So, how do you guys know eachother/ I can see the respect between you both," he inquired.