---

Akane finished up in the kitchen and went to gather her things. Towels were always an easy grab for her and she was out on the porch in no time, wondering how long it would take them to walk to this place. After healing Oita, she could use a nice soothing soak. She was dressed in a white robe and held two towels on her arm. This was a small town and she didnt expect people out in the streets this late in the evening.

Kami joined Akane a moment later and looked at the image printed on the coupon. "Hana didn't tell me where it was, but by this picture i would guess that we go that way." she pointed down the street, in the distance there were three hills that lead towards the mountains. She showed Akane the coupon ans she could see designed that resembled those hills and mountain. "I'm sure there is a path or something to show us the way." Great Spirit... was she really about to go on an outing with Akane?

Taking the ticket, she looked down at it, then ahead. "Sounds logical." she added and began to walk, passing over the ticket. As they headed down the street quietly, Akane's mind started to wander. If this wasn't awkward already, she would have to spend at least the next two hours with Kami, alone.

Akane arrived with Kami in toe from the onsen. She had discarded her smoothie in a wastebasket on their way up and was very content with herself right now. There was the stress of apologizing to El weighing on her neck, but she would tackle that tomorrow sometime.

"Hungry?" Kami asked as they came into the house. "I believe there's some fry bread left over from this morning. I should go check on Oita."

"That's alright...thanks anyway. I think I'm just going to go to bed soon. Maybe we should check on Oita in the morning? He's probably asleep." Akane explained.

"I will check any way." Kami told her. "I only want to see to his wounds, make sure the balm I gave him is doing him well."

"Alright alright." Akane said and waved her off, heading for the bathroom.

Kami headed towards Oita's room, hoping that between her and Akane he would wake up mostly whole in the morning.

What she saw when she came in was Oita, glowing with chakra as he sat on his bed in a meditative stance. He was practicing control, the ball of chakra around him moving slowly, spinning, rotating slowly with a practiced ease. Usually this would be an interesting sight to see, maybe even a fascinating one, a boy capable of pushing so much chakra out of himself. But considering Oita's position, it was probably a very dumb thing to do as well.

And that's what Kami saw, him hurting himself more when he should be resting. "Oita!" she exclaimed. "Your supposed to be recuperating!"

"Ah! Um..." Oita panicked, the bubble of power exploded suddenly with a noise like a small explosion. He dropped back into bed, the blush evident around his cheeks "S-sorry, I wanted to check I... I still had control. I got a little carried away."

"Darn right you did!" Kami said, taking on that motherly tone they knew her for. "Lay down like a normal sick person!"

"I didn't break the gate again, honest" Oita said as he moved into bed again, biting his lip softly "I just... got bored... It wasn't hurting me, I just wanted to know if I hadn't broken anything important inside."

"YOU DUMBASS!" Akane shouted, storming into the room. She had heard the explosion and rushed in from the bathroom. "All that energy I gave you earlier and THIS is how you use it? How dare you?!" She walked forward, ready to smack that blush right out of his cheeks.

Oita might have raised his hand for protection against himself if Akane had only been shouting, but seeing her raising a hand to actually strike him, he reacted in an instance. His hand extended in a moment, and as Akane took another step towards him she felt a sudden pull on both of her legs, as if there were strings tied around them. On a normal person this would over balance them, but right now Oita wasn't thinking of akane's light bones; it would more than likely throw her completely head over heels.

Kami Could only gasp and wait for the sudden snap that was one of Akane's weak extremities. She knew Oita was only acting defensively, butto use chakra against a friend?

Akane hit the ground with a hard THUD. "OW!" she hissed, sitting up slowly. She wasn't going to actually smack the kid, just threaten through action. "Did you just-" she began, "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND, OITA?!"

Oita had gone pale, but he stood up at once; even though he was a small boy, he tried to seem imposing as he pointed a sturdy finger down at Akane. "If you attempt to strike me Akane I will defend myself. Yes, I am thankful for your healing. But I merely tripped you to defend myself. Kami had been chiding me for my misuse of chakra, and I accept that, but if you come in here with a clear attempt to strike me, I will defend myself, however little."

"Are you thick in the head?! I wasn't going to hit you!" Akane argued loudly, getting to her feet. Great, now her ass was sore. Her muscles were also tense again after all that time in the hot spring. It was completely undone. "Next time you fry yourself to a crisp from your OWN idiocy, don't come crying to me! I gave you all that chakra only for you to practice being stupid again?! Do you realize how selfish you just were?!" Akane was physically exhausted from healing Oita earlier and he apparently hadn't seen it. Her fists and teeth were clenched tightly as she started daggers down at him. This was an entire new side from what Kami had been used to during the past several hours. It was as if all their progress had back-lashed suddenly when her pride was hit. 

"Stop it, stop it, STOP IT!" Kami shouted, sudden blue sparks popping around her. They flashed out quickly though, as lightening was prone to do. She looked as if she had something very important to shout at them but it didn't seem to want to come out. One thing was for sure, neither of them had seen her scream at anyon

Oita was about to retort to akane before sighing softly when Kami began screaming. He paused, closed his eyes, then swallowed hard. Think. rationality. "I am sorry akane. I was merely testing if I had injured any parts inside me, something which you would not be able to see yourself. I was not wasting your energy, I was making sure I was alright. Yes, I reacted by instinct when you rushed in just now, but could you please control your anger slightly? I am not... used to emotions... and I am nervous enough without having to defend myself from your anger."

Akane placed her hands on her bum and rubbed her cheeks a bit. Hard wood floor was not the best to fall onto. When Oita snapped to and explained himself logically and calmly, she felt a little stupid. She crossed her arms in front of her and pouted a bit. "Let's just drop it." It wasn't exactly a direct apology, but it may be as close as he was going to get.

"What Akane really means is that she's sorry." Kami told him. "We've been talking and she's making an attempt to... be more sociable." The "We've been talking" part was probably the most profound part of that statement, but Kami went on. "She's gone very far in one evening and even... received some strange news... I dare say it's all been building up on her. So she's sorry..."

Akane still pouted and avoided eye contact from both of them. She really appreciated Kami's translation though. At the end, Akane nodded slightly. No doubt she would have to thank Kami for that later.

Oita took a small breath, then nodded in understanding. He then paused for a moment before saying "This... news... does it have something to do with... El?" He wanted to check his suspicions.

"Am I really the only one who didn't see it?" Akane asked. "He apparently stalks this place and has peeped in on my personal training sessions. I'm going to be keeping a close eye on the perimeter here. We don't need someone from the other team spying on us...or me... or whatever."

"I have rather close security around the house. I have been keeping an eye on him whenever he comes around here. He seems mostly harmless" Oita said with a small shrug "It is better you are aware now."

"I warned him that he needs to find some other inspiration. I will not tolerate him peeping in on my private medical lessons. Those are between myself and the sensei only." Akane said sternly.

"ah... well... like I said... security..." Oita waved hand slowly in the air, indicating the corners of the walls "It was my families idea, not my own. Make sure no one steals our clans ideas."

"Yes, well it's done a terrible job thus far." Akane rebutted, "For all I know, El probably watches me sleep." she said, shivering at the idea.

"He... does not spy on my work" Oita said, not wanting to make El sound worse than he actually was considered already. The watching her sleep was a little creepy he admitted, but he spent his time watching him watching her sleep...

"In his defense, he watches not only you." Kami said. "I've seen him observe young couples and children, the silver." By silver she of course meant the elderly. "Yes he watches you most of all, but he watches everyone. I think it has to do with his music. Did he say he only watched you?"

"No, but-" Akane stopped, "Wait a second... you both KNEW he was spying on us and spying on ME and it didn't occur to either of you to say anything to me? Isn't that part of being on a team?!" Of course, she was one to talk, but it still irritated her that these two both knew he was stalking her and chose not to say anything.

"At first I believed that he was merely observing your advanced training in the medical arts" Oita admitted "Only recently have I began to develop a suspicion of something more behind his actions."

"He watches everyone." Kami told her. "I didn't notice he was interested in you till he bought the flowers and I saw you with them again later and... Well... you are rather hard to approach... Other than today you and I haven;t really spoken in weeks."

"Oh please, it's not like it's completely from my doing. You know damn well that it was mutual." Akane defended. "So El stalks me is what you two are saying. Hmm...not sure I feel right apologizing to him anymore."

"No. He watches your progress. He does not stalk you. He does not spend all the time watching you, or thinking about you, he just turns up to observe your work" Oita said flatly "He is shy and reserved, and yes, that makes it hard to approach you."

"We're not at all saying that he stalks you." Kami told her. "That is what you hear us saying but it is not! You are over reacting about a simple little squish!... Wait... that's not right... I said it right earlier..."

"Crush...? And no, I'm not overreacting." Akane "I'm reacting just enough." She had her own personal reasons for hating stalker, creepy men, but that was something she was going to share. She let out a frustrated sigh, "Alright, can we just drop it? Maybe instead we should talk about how Kami had Kano propose to her?"

Kami had that look on her face like she were going to explode again. Then it all deflated. She turned about as red as the cover of Oita's pillow.

"Ah, yes, the kiss. By the sound of it, you met the other team in the onsen. A shame I did not come" Oita said softly, scratching his chin slowly before looking up at Kami "Did that all get sorted out?"

"Wait... how did you know about that kiss? Kami just told me as far as I knew." Akane looked at her, smirking at the sillyness of her heated face.

"I didn't say anything..." Kami said, "I spoke to you because I didn't want to speak to a boy about it."

"Ah, yes, you see, I mentioned security before? I have them inside the house as well. And since i thought El was spying on us, I planted a little spy bug in their house. They too, were talking about it. That would be how I know, if the walls in this place weren't so paper thin, his attraction for you obvious and Akane so excitable that I heard her talking from this room" oita coughed slightly, ok, mostly it had been the tapes. "I am sorry for prying, I did not listen to your conversation, but I picked most of it up from the one in the other's home."

"Oh and I bet you have them in the bathroom too... and in our bedrooms, don't you?" Akane accused, disgusted. Not only did El not give her privacy, but apparently Oita didn't either.

"I was unable to find the ones in the bathroom and bedrooms. They did not know which room I would be sleeping in, so yes, the bedrooms are bugged. I have, however, disabled the bedroom and the bathroom security measures from a distance" Oita said with a small shrug "That is what I did the first few nights I was here. I wanted to give you privacy."

"I think I sort of know how Akane feels now..." Kami said. "This all sounds creepy and disturbing..." But she was glad that Oita said he had dsabeled the bedrooms and bathroom.

"Oh please, how are we supposed to believe that, Oita?" Akane asked, seriously pissed off again. "How dare you have cameras pointed at us without our knowledge, you perverted little cretin! Where are those cameras!? I'm going to smash every single one!" 

"Akane calm down!" Kami tried. "Understand where Oita is coming from. His familie's secrets are very valuable to them. I do not agree that we have been cameraed, but you must understand the abundant paranoia that is obvious within his clan."

"If that's the case, then why did he have to hide it from us?" Akane asked. "You both said we need to be a team and if that's the case, he should have said something." 

"I cannot disagree..." Kami said quietly.

"Because in the beginning the ones in your bedrooms and in the bathroom were not disabled, and your temper was even more uncontrolled" Oita pointed out "And I use these devices to do nothing but check the perimeter, and you do not need to know about every single thing my family does. And I did tell you when you asked about them. I would have thought that you would expect my house to have some kind of security."

"I would never have thought to ask." Kami pointed out. "You remember at how I marveled at the stove when I first arrived. There are a great many wonders that I am not familiar with. You should have told us. It is something we would not have expected to think about."

"We need to know where those cameras are located, Oita." Akane said firmly. "Otherwise, I'm not staying here another night."

"I do not know, Akane!" Oita said again, a bit louder now "It took me three weeks to disable the devices in your bedrooms from a distance, because I did not know where they were actually placed. There's one in each room, taking in most of the room. I'm sorry, but I can't take out all the security; I need to protect my families secrets, and ourselves."

"Well what harm was there in telling us from the beginning?" Akane asked, "So Kami and I knew from the start that the only place we are safe nude is in a closet....or are there cameras there too?"

"Because I knew you would react even worse and demand me to disable them even though I was going to do it anyway." Oita let out a sigh and shook his head slowly "There would have been an issue raised if I told you then, but now I have taken out all the devices that are a little... disagreeable, I did not see a reason to hide it any more."

"I would have preferred if your family used traps instead." Kami said honestly.


"Oh please... just admit you were in the wrong." Akane said, crossing her arms, a sure sign that she wasn't going to be swayed on the issue.

Oita didn't agree, but nodded to the others "I am sorry, I did not mean to infringe on your private time, and to be honest, I never have. While you obviously have no trust in me, and believe me incapable of having common decency, I should have told you about the security measures put in place to protect my village's secrets. From everyone." That included them.

"It's not that we don't trust you." Kami said. "It's just... We didn't expect it is all."

Akane didn't say anything. She was fuming quiet a bit, but kept her reserve, knowing if she were to speak it would only make matters worse.

"If you trust me then you know that I would only ever use the devices to guard my secrets" Oita said slowly, gazing with his large glasses straight towards Kami "I cannot get rid of them. They are protecting years and years of ancient secrets."

"I do not understand how cameras do that." Kami said. "They only take pictures. They can't prevent anything."

"And if this place is 'oh so special' why the heck don't we stay somewhere else? Like an apartment like the other team?" Akane asked, "We could have avoided all this."

Kami didn't like the sound f that. That would split up the team. On a side note she knew who would end up likely paying for it... She was the only one with a job and no one knew how much currency she really had.

"Because the secrets are not inside the house. They are inside my head" Oita said simply to Akane "and because I have paid for this house, and I offered you two a place to live in it once I learned you did not have one yourself. And the devices are there to capture images of the intruders. If someone kidnapped me, or came near the house, myself and anyone else who knows of the devices would be capable of seeing who they are and where they were heading."

"But we didn't know of them till now." Kami said. "How then could they have been of any use in tracking you down?" She supposed it was better that she shoot holes in this logic in her terminology rather than Akane hacking away at it with her blunt attitude.

"There are officials who would check the devices the moment it seemed I had gone missing. Others know about it, but they are only allowed to view the recordings if I have gone missing" Oita said simply. It wasn't like they were just LET two unknown people know about the devices. The only reason they knew now was that Oita had decided to tell them because he trusted them enough. He was now not sure if he had done the right thing.

"Do you seriously think that Ishiaki would just let you get kidnapped?" Akane asked. "Besides, just how much of a risk factor is it that we are staying here, exactly? That's sort of something we needed to know from the beginning." 

"If you have an ancient vase in your house, you put insurance on it. Not because you want it to break. Not because you hope it will break. Not because there is any real desire for people to break it. You just want to make sure that, if it does break, you have it insured" Oita said flatly to Akane.

"Listen! All Kami and I are saying is that you should have told us there are cameras in the house and where they are. You can keep your family bullshit, I don't care. We just don't want you or a member of your family looking at our tits and ass when we take a shower or undress for bed. Get it?!" Akane asked loudly, annoyed that Oita was trying to get around the issue.

"Do not insult my family" Oita said flatly, staring hard at Akane "I disabled those devices so you would have privacy. There is no chance of naked recordings of you being produced because I had no wish for them to be." There was a little edge in his voice now "Since the issue you have raised is not, in fact, possible, then you either have no issue at all or a completely different issue."

"He is right though." Kami tried defending Oita from his point of view so this didn't get much hotter than it already had. "The moment he offered that we stay here he sought out the things and deactivated the ones in the bath and our rooms. Unless we intend to wander about the house nude, we should be fine. I agree that he should have told us in the beginning but there's nothing we can do now is there? What's done is done the only thing we can do is put it behind us."

Akane frustration were held back, forced to fester in the pit of her stomach. This evening had been going along so well, only to hit a brick wall right at the end. She crossed her arms and rolled her eye, looking down at the corner of the room, not wanting to speak to anyone anymore.

Oita sighed softly and shook his head. "Thank you Kami" he said finally "And I do appologise, I did my best to protect your privacy as best I can." He gave a small shrug, still annoyed at Akane for her behaviour earlier. She just seemed to take the fact that Oita was letting the team sleep in his house for granted.

"Alright..." Kami said between them. "Now, I purchased something called a lemon pie earlier today and frankly I have no idea what that is, so why don't we all go have a bit and let this heal over?"

Akane kept her pout and didn't say anything. Her stoic figure was cast off as a deep rumble in her stomach voiced it's hunger for the pie.

"That would be nice, thank you Kami" Oita said softly, a smile crossing his lips as he turned his head to the girl. He didn't mind lemon pie, not his favourite, but he could stomach it for the good of the group.

"Akane..." Kami said with a hint of a smile "Would you like some lemon pie?" The way she said "lemon pie" sounded as if she were saying some strange foreign word which she was unsure of the pronunciation.

"It's lem-on." Akane corrected. "Sure... I'll help you get it." She really wanted out of this room.

"I will stay here and put some more clothes on" Oita said simply. They had all barged into his room after all.

"You are obviously strong enough to sit in the kitchen with us." Kami told him. "Your pie will be waiting for you."

Akane left the room without another glance at either one of them. Walking down the hallway, her eye skimmed the walls and ceiling, trying to find one of those many cameras that were hidden here.

There weren't any cameras. Surely she would have spotted them if there had been cameras around the place. Oita knew what she was doing even as she left, sighing softly and saying "I will join you in a moment Kami. Thank you."

Kami nodded at him and followed Akane down the hall.

Akane was still fuming. She stormed into the kitchen and pulled out a glass from the cabinet, slamming it shut. Getting herself a glass of water, she gulped it down quickly.

"It has been an eventful day..." Kami said quietly as she knelt to peer into the ice box. She pulled out a white box tied with strong.

"Too eventful if you ask me." she confessed. "But you seemed to have a nice day." Akane said, changing the subject.

Kami shrugged as she cut the string off the box then gradually Akane could see her cheeks redden and her jaw tighten as if trying to hold back a smile.

"Seems I found your weak spot." Akane said, putting the glass in the sink. She came over to assist with the pie. "How was the 'talk'? You never said anything to me."

"We agreed to take it slow." Kami told her. "And as far as kissing goes... he can kiss my hand..."

"So you guys are like.... dating then?" she asked, pulling out a three plates from a cabinet. "So if you don't mind me asking, what do you see in that guy?"

"He can be very sweet." Kami said. "And he's... complimentary." She'd called him that before but she'd never really explained it.

"Ok? So.. he's nice, got it. What else?" Akane asked, not quite convinced just yet.

"He's the potential of becoming a very good ninja." Kami continued. "And he's a melee user... It wouldn;t make any sense to date a ranged user like myself."

"It wouldn't? Why should that matter?" she asked, not really getting what that meant. Kami wasn't doing a very good job of convincing her that she really liked Kano for the right reasons.

"Well we wouldn't be a very effective team would we?" Kami said as if it was obvious. She hadn't yet cut the pie, not really knowing how to go about it. "How could we defend our children if something happened?"

Akane nearly choked. "Jeez! You really do want to marry that guy! You don't even know him, Kami! Seriously..."

"I didn't say that, but why would I date someone who couldn't protect a family?" Kami asked. "Wouldn't that be a waste of time?"

"You're a little young to be thinking about that." Akane seemed to be taking the 'big sister' role again, even though they were both 14. Akane was taller then Kami. Not to mention, Kami was a bit... niave with some things. "So you like him because he is nice and a fair ninja. That it?"

"Noooo..." Kami said still trying to figure out the best way to go about cutting the pie. She had yet to make the first cut. "I... I just like him does it have to matter why?"

"I guess that's fine. Maybe it's just hard to see it since he really is not my type. To each their own, que sera and all that jazz." Akane said, taking the knife and initiating the cutting. "I was just trying to see what you saw out of curiosity."

Oita came out of his room, straightening his clothes slightly; he still had the salve on his chest however, so he had an old shirt on that had been in the wash anyway. "Greetings" he said softly as he approached the two, not wanting to be accused of spying again.

"Well he is cute." Kami said just as Oita walked in and he could see her cheeks redden when she noticed it was him.

Akane ignored the presence of Oita and went on. "Not a fan of the tattoos... it looks like his crotch is on fire." It just had to be said.

Kami's jaw sort of slacked, she couldn't believe Akane would say something like that. "It's a village custom. He is a genin so he has the first layer, when he becomes a chunin he will get another and so on. If he makes a sound during the tattooing process he will never be considered a man."

"I don't care what kind of custom it is, I'm just being honest." Akane shrugged, putting a slice on each plate. "That's what it looks like."

"I like it." Kami told her. "It makes me wish tattooing was a custom in my village." Kami's markings were of course paint, but even though they'd been in the hot springs, her paint still looked flawless. "Um..." she looked at the sliced pie. "How do I get it out of the container?"

"The ancient tattoo traditions have rather improved lately" Oita said softly as he moved over towards the pie "Not quite as painful, but still quite the challenge. Thank you. Like this Kami" Oita said, slowly sliding the piece of pie he had been given out of the container, making a minimal mess with it, and all on the plate.

"Welcome." Kami said taking a bite of her's. There was a suprised look on her face before, "Owww!" she looked like she was in pain for a moment. Her hand went to her jaw and she grimaced why she chewed. "Why doth it hurt?" She asked with her mouth full. She'd never encountered food that caused pain when you ate it.

Akane dropped her fork from Kami's shreik. She leaned over and said, "Maybe you have a cavity? Or... it's just the tang of the lemon?" She scooped herself a fork-full and popped it into her mouth. With it full, she held her lips close together and said, "It's not that tart."

"When was the last time you had your teeth checked?" Oita said, a frown spreading across his brow as he moved in closer to Kami. He hoped she didn't have a cavity... it should have played up before now though, if she did have one.

"Teefh checked?" Kami asked, finally swallowing. "I think it was the lemon... I've never tasted something so strong before."

"Hmmm..." Oita said, poking the pie with one finger and frowning slightly "Maybe I should get a drink to have with this... dilute the flavour slightly."

Akane snickered at Kami. Sometimes she was just too amusing for words. "We know your weakness now." she teased.

"Just don't tell my enemies." Kami said looking at her second bite of pie. Dubiously she took it and found that the reaction wasn't so bad. "Noff tho bad thith time." She said chewing. "Pretty darn good."

Akane smiled, actually smiled as she took another bite. She was keeping to herself mostly now, still on edge with Oita, but slowly getting over it.

"You like it?" She asked them. "The woman at the shop called it a... desert... She also said it was customary to eat after a meal... not not nesicairy."

"Very much so~ I'm glad you picked out a fruit pie and not like... cake or something." Akane said.

"It is quite delicious" Oita said, eating a small piece of pie and being careful that he didn't wind up stinging his own mouth "Thank you for getting it Kami."

"You're welcome." Kami smiled. She was glad that they were at least all together. They may have just had a fight but this spoke volumes about how they were growing as a team.

Akane finished most of her slice, but left some of the crust on her plate. She let out a yawn and itched under the strap of her eyepatch with a fingernail while the others chatted.

Oita was eating slowly, as if tasting each mouthful for ingredients... or possibly poison. "Where did you get this?" he asked softly, wondering if he'd seen the stall in the market before, or if it was a shop already placed here.

"There's a shop Hana sends me there in the morning to pick up something called bagels and... schmeare..." Kami explained. "Smear... I'm not sure. It's called a bakery."

"Ah" Oita nodded at her words, mostly understanding them, but partly completely clueless. He took another small bite, deciding to eat his crust "I need to learn the shops around here. And how to cook."

"I do all the cooking Oita, you needn't bother yourself with that." Kami said, soundign as if she were perfectly happy to continue doing it.

"I think it would be nice for me to cook at least once" Oita said gently, scratching his chin as he thought about it "To at least try and prove my independence."

Akane dumped the crust in the trash and set her plate in the sink before yawning again. She wondered just how late it was anyway. Perhaps that bath had relaxed her too much.

"Do you cook any dishes Akane?" Kami asked being curious.

"Yes, but I think it may be a bit too spicy for you if you can't handle some lemon juice." she explained. A lot of her dinners consisted of rice, beans, peppers and spices.

"Well it's fine now that I've gotten used to it." Kami told her. "Perhaps we should have a day where we all cook a dish we know? It might be fun. One of us could cook for breakfast, the other for lunch and the last for desert."

"I'm not sure if I HAVE any traditional dishes" Oita said thoughtfully "We tend to copy other dishes. I could try and create something if you want however."

"I suppose... when should we do this?" Akane asked, considering Kami worked and her and Oita were often training.

"What about tomorrow?" Kami asked. "I can fix breakfast and you two can bring me lunch at the green house."

"So long as Ishiaki doesn't spring something on us." Akane said.

"Oh Oita I know." Kami said and opened the cabinet above the stove. "Hana gave this to me. She said it's full of local dishes and I know how much you like books. Find one you like and make me a list of ingredients and I'll pick them up tomorrow on my way home."

"I doubt that Ishiaki will have anything for us" Oita said gently, taking the book and starting to skin through it "So Akane, would you rather make Lunch or Dinner? I do not mind which."

"I can do lunch." Akane replied, leaning her bum against the counter. "Oh and no chicken or turkey you two... " she waved her finger to both of them.

"No fowl of any kind." Kami said. "Deal."

"Is fish ok? There might be something I could use fish in..." Oita said, starting to thumb through the book already.

"I don't mind fish." Akane replied with a shrug. It had been a while since she had cooked a meal, but she really wasn't worried about it.

"As long as it's not autumn I can eat fish." Kami told them. "We don;t eat fish during the spawning season."

"So many rules..." Oita muttered under his breath. He was rather glad that his own people weren't so complex... if a little bland at times. No poultry and no fish after a while. What did that leave? Pork... beef... lamb...

"Well would you want to eat a creature that's only goal is to reproduce?" Kami asked.

"Why not?" Akane asked, not really understanding her reason not to eat fish during spawn season.

"If you take away from the fish population before they spawn then there won't be as much fish for the next season." Kami explained. "Is it better to steal an egg from a bird's nest or kill the bird? If you kill the bird the eggs will die and she will not be around to lay any more eggs. Do you understand now?"

"Uhh yea, but it's a stupid fish. Salmon die not long after they spawn anyway." Akane gestured with a hand on her hip.

"And what to bear eat before they hibernate?" Kami asked. "If not for the salmon bear would not survive the winter. And not all fish die after spawning. Please do not refer to fish as stupid. In many plac3es they are often the corner stone of the ecosystem."

"...Bears? Kami, that argument could be made for ANY animal and why NOT to eat it." Akane argued. "But fine fine.. no fish. I don't even like it anyway."

"It's not autumn." Kami told her. "I can eat fish if it's not autumn."

"I know... I was looking at fish dishes..." Oita exposed the pages he was looking at, a few ways to cook fish scribbled down; he then sighed and began to flick through the book again "But if Akane does not like them..."

"Fish is... it's alright. It really depends on what it is and how it's cooked. Make whatever." Akane said flat out.

"My first time really cooking... how it is cooked will be not very well... so lets go with beef, that would be the easiest really" Oita said, flicking through the pages again. Some of the beef dishes looked rather easy.

"I have no issues with beef." Kami said. "Is beef ok with you Akane?"

"No complaints here." Akane said, lifting her hand.

"Then I will cook beef to the best of my ability" Oita said, marking the page in his mind and closing the book with a sharp snap. It should be about bed time for them all now.

"I'm glad we're getting along so well." Kami said as she gathered the plates. "Ishiaki would be very pleased."

"Wherever he is..." Akane faded, shaking a perverted image from her mind. "Oh yea, we spotted him and Tsu sensei at the onsen." she told Oita.

"Then they might be together. Which means he is not likely to spring any surprise missions on us due to a good mood" Oita said rather frankly; he knew his sensei's reputation, and he had some lingering doubts about Tsu's repressed sexuality.

"Well it's good they've made friends." Kami said, completely oblivious of the subtle undertone of the conversation.

Akane yawned and stretched back before walking across the kitchen. "Yea... it's pretty late, I think I'm going to go to bed."

"I believe I should as well" Oita said simply, scratching his chin as he thought about everything that had happened today.

"You two go on." Kami told them. "I will clean this up."

"Thank you Kami" Oita said softly, standing up slowly and giving her a gentle smile; she was so nice to them both, he was lucky to have her in the house.

"See ya." Akane said, heading down the hall without a second glance. She let out another tired yawn. Today had been one heck of a long one.

"You're welcome Oita." Kami told him and smiling turned to the sink to finish up the dishes from their pie. She was happy. She usually seemed happy but this time there was something more to smile about. Akane and her had come far today and even though the news of Oita's cameras had caused them to argue, they were going to bed without fighting, without being angry at one another... for once.

Oita looked around as akane went, then slowly slid forward and gave Kami a sudden hug from behind. He laughed softly and said "thank you" again before slipping away to go back to his room.

Kami froze for a moment and remembered that he did have issues with social interaction. "Your welcome."

oita moved back to his room quickly, smiling to himself and slipping in quietly. Today hadn't been a bad day... it had had it's ups and downs.

Kami finished up the dishes and still smiling returned to her room. There she was reminded that she still needed to replace Oita's rug. The black spot of her ink spill had reminded her, but she doubted he would bee too angry about it.

Akane proceeded into her room, sliding it closed behind her. Beginning to undress, she hesitated and looked in the corners of the room for those pesky cameras. She didn't see anything...but that didn't mean they weren't spying on her right now. This was all so unnerving.

Kami too had very nearly began to undress. Not that she didn't trust Oita, but there could be cameras in here that he hadn't found. She promptly took up one of her sheets and traveled down the hall to Akane's room. She knocked.

"Yea?" Akane asked, not sure which of the two it was. She headed to the door and slid it open. "What's up?"

Kami held up the sheet. "Not that I don't trust Oita for having of gotten rid of the cameras... but... if he missed one... Would you like me to hold up this sheet just in case?" She was of course hoping Akane would do the same for her... She was being suspicious... that's what Akane advised her to do right? To not be so trusting...

"Funny you should say that, I was just about to try and finagle out of my clothes under the sheets of my bed. This is all such a pain." Akane rolled her eye, letting Kami come in. "I don't see any cameras though...at least nothing that would be obvious."

"He said he removed them. I trust him, but he may have missed one..." Kami told her, unfolding the sheet. "I do not believe he would spy on us intentionally."

"Probably not- but who knows if his parents would or not?" Akane asked. "Or his siblings or whoever. I stand by what I said, he should have told us something right away."

"What's done is done." Kami said looping the sheet around to create a sort of round curtain effect for Akane to slip into. "What worries me more is that I sleep nude..."

"You seriously going to keep doing that now that you know?" she asked, grabbing a shirt and stepping into the curtain to undress. This was ridiculous.

"I can;t sleep in clothes." Kami told her. "I've tried... I can however tuck in my corners or cocoon myself in a sheet instead."

"Hold on a second." Akane said, stepping out of the curtain, heading toward the open window. She stuck her head out and looked around, listening to any sounds the winds may carry. Nothing-
"Alright...we're good. Just making sure El isn't peeping in." she said and closed off the window, then swinging the curtain before it.

"He's a ninja." Kami told her. "You wouldn't likely see him any way... and as I understand it, he wouldn't do something like that..."

"I didn't think so either, but apparently I can't trust any of the men in this institution. I shouldn't have to secure this place's perimeter before going to bed."

"I have seen El scold Kano for unsavory comments a number of times." Kami told her. "His society seems very grounded when it comes to these sorts of things. To the point that I imagine he would flog himself if he accidentally looked at a girl naked. I don't think he would spy on you in that way." And they'd already discussed Oita so there was no sense in bringing that up again.

"As a matter of fact, you may be right." Akane said as she got into her shirt gown. "If I recall, he booked it out of there when they walked in on us at the onsen. Kano was the one who wanted to jump in right away." She chuckled and stepped out before grabbing the curtain for Kami.

Kami slipped under the sheet and out of her dress. She had nothing to slip back into so she took the sheet from Akane and wrapped it around her. "See what I mean?" She asked. "It sounds to me as if El's culture is very strict on such things. He might watch you from afar, but I do not think he would do so in hopes of catching you naked."

"I think you should consider yourself lucky, Kami. Kano seems to be very upfront about how he felt about you from the get-go." Akane explained. "I don't know what to do with El now that I knew he has been...stalking me for a while now."

Kami blushed when Akane called her lucky, but that wasn't the issue. "He has a romantic spirit I think." She told Akane. "He probably doesn't know how to approach you about it and is trying to find the best means to tell you. After tonight you may find him even more distant than before."

"Jeez- girl wit the boyfriend suddenly knows all about men?" Akane teased, "But, I've decided that I need to apologize to both El and Hinji tomorrow. Last thing I need is more tension between INC members. Ishiaki will find out before long."

"I think that is a very wise decision." Kami said securing her sheet. She thought about saying something about how glad she was that Akane had turned over a new leaf, but decided against it. She seemed sensitive about those sorts of things.

"Apologizing to El is one thing, but Hinji.... Hinji is just an arrogant prick." Akane said with a roll of her eye. "He gets on my nerves more then anyone else in this organization."

"Would you like my help?" Kami asked. "He can't be mean to both of us... What did you say to him any way?"

"Same thing I said to El, that in order to become powerful ninja, they should adapt or get over their fears. Hinji is afraid of the sun... so is he just going to be a ninja at night? That makes no sense. And El is afraid of heights if you would believe it." Akane explained.

"You do know that Hinji's people are cave dwellers right?" Kami asked. "If he is exposed to the sunlight he becomes horribly burned... I think it's rather brave of him to aspire to become a ninja..."

"Or incredibly stupid." Akane said quickly, putting a hand on her hip.

"I understand what happened now." Kami told her. "You spoke before thinking just as you did now and you said something in response that was incredibly insensitive without considering how it would make he and El feel... Right?

"Hey- I thought for a moment on how to approach the topic, but jeez it had to be said. Rude wake up call I guess? They need to be stronger then that. We all have weaknesses, but it's up to us to figure out how to use them as strengths."