Meeting of Chances (open)

[Nara Shono]

"What a boring day, no clouds in the sky to watch, not tired at all to take a nap, I think a mission would have actually been nice....oh man, what am I saying? It must be boring if I want to do missions...." Shono paced his house as he spoke these words to himself. What had been a gloriously beautiful day to most people had been a boring one to Shono. No mission, no clouds, and with the big Konoha Masquerade Festival going on there had been very few people to talk to around town. Why didn't he just go to the festival like everyone else? The answer to that question puzzled even Shono. As he paced his house lamenting the boring day that question kept popping into his head, and every time it did he pushed it away. Maybe it was the fact that if he went to play some of the games during the day that he would want to stay for the evening dances, and the fact that he didn't have anyone to go with would make him feel out of place.

Whatever the reason was, the afternoon had come and gone and it was now starting to enter the evening phase of the day. The sun was still high enough in the sky to illuminate the beauty of Konoha's surroundings, but in a few hours it would be setting and the night time festivities would begin. What was really bugging Shono about the whole situation was that he knew there were games to be played at the festival, and he loved to play games and win. After burning a path in the floor from all the pacing Shono finally stopped and decided on what to do. "I'm going, if I just pace back and forth here i'm gonna drive myself mad." Finally deciding on going to the festival he now had to find something to wear.

It would be a little weird to wear formal attire to go play games, but it was getting later in the day. Since every second brought things closer to the dancing portion of the festivities, formal dresswear might be appropriate, that way he could easily go from playing games to going to the dance. Shono rifled through his closet and found the perfect thing to wear. He pulled out a pair of somewhat baggy black dress pants; a glossy black shirt with matching black buttons all the way down the middle; a black jacket with faint, thin, vertical red stripes; black dress shoes; a crimson colored tie with fancy black diamonds; a black fedora with a crimson colored sash at the base of the hat; and finally a black cloak.

Shono was a fan of black and crimson colors, hence why his outfit consisted majorly of those two colors. The outfit was of a very formal nature, but one might wonder why the black cloak was needed. The simple reason for this was to hide his sword, the Kumorigan. The only time the sword left his body was when he was at home, otherwise it was strapped somewhere on his body. He tied the sheath behind his back so that it would be hidden while he walked, and also so that if he were to sit down at any point the sword would merely shift a bit and still remain hidden.

Only one thing remained to wear, a fancy mask that was required by everyone to wear to wear, it was a masquerade festival after all. Shono had gone out and bought a mask a few days ago when everyone else had bought theres. Even then he didn't plan on going to the festivities but he had been with a few of his friends when they went to buy their's, so he bought one right away, and it was a good thing he did or else there would be no way he could go now. The mask he had bought was black in color with a thin layer of silver outlining the eyes, and it had fancy swirls of red that streaked throughout the entire mask. Unlike other masks that covered the entire face, this one covered the forehead down to the nose, but this is where it got somewhat different. It left the mouth completely exposed, but the sides of the mask continued on to cover the cheeks.

Now that he was finally dressed he could leave his house and get to the festival to start playing some games. Walking through the streets he started to feel alot better about the day. "I guess today I was meant to play games and not watch clouds..." As he walked he enjoyed the natural beauty of the village, just like he always did when he went for his little walks. After a short walk he finally reached the festival grounds with the sun slowly starting its decent to sunset. At this point the grounds were buzzing with people playing games. As he looked around he noticed that he wasn't the only person in formal attire, they probably had the same idea about being able to go to the dance straight from the games.

As Shono strolled the grounds looking from game to game he came upon a ring toss game. He looked up at all the prizes hanging from the booth's wall; a stuffed monkey, a giant green gorilla, a wide assortment of prizes. Shono payed a few coins and was handed five rings to try and toss onto pole about eight feet away. The first four tosses were right on the mark, and as he lined up his final toss he was slightly bumped by a person walking by, causing his ring to fly way off its mark. "Dang it, that ring woulda got me that giant monkey..."

[Oyamada Misheru]

Misheru was sitting on the balcony of the hotel room in Konoha. She had been assigned to escort the Chuunin here from Kirigakure to take part in the Jounin Selection Exam. She was not to do anything else while she was there, and she found herself becoming rather board for the most part. She was not use to just sitting around and not doing anything. She was use to roaming around the forest that surround the village, but seeing how she was not use to this village or forest that idea was out of the question. She was not that great at meeting new friends either, she hated to deal with younger people due to the fact that they didn't know what it was like to take the life of one's best friend. She did and it was something that haunted her for the most part.

Misheru pushed herself to stand and walked up to the railing of the balcony, she could not denial it. It was a beautiful day here in the village of Fire. It was not like that of Kirigakure, misty for the most part. She smiled slightly has the wind blew her bangs out of her face. She watched the people down below on the streets, she could barely hear what they was talking about for the most part but it seemed they was talking about some sort of festival for the most part. That reminded her. She walked back into her room and walked up to the table and looked at a flyer that was on the table when she got there. She looked at it, it was about the festival that Konoha was having. In the Mist there was never such a thing and a smile faded for a moment before she decided to go, it would be good right? Nothing major just showing up and help relations with Konoha right? That what the Jounin Exams was about for the most part right?

Misheru had already been in the Village of Fire for over a week, so she had already placed her clothing up in the closet and dresser. Since she was not going to be needed much on anything other than making sure that she stayed out of trouble for the most part she had packed some dresses and such. The only thing that she didn't have was a mask but she though she could pick one up when she started to the festival. There should be shops selling mask in her way of thinking.

She walked over to see what she had to wear, she took out a red skirt that was nearly like her normal black one, this one had the same vine going down one side and on the left side there was a blue rose blossoming from the vine. She loved the smell of flowers and that was why she was give the name the Small Rose in the Mist. It was a name that she held with pride for the most part. She saw gray blouse hanging up. The blouse was a simple short sleeve one that just went past her shoulders. It was not her normal style of clothing because she usually wore a long sleeve shirt. On the back of the blouse was two intervening roses, one was a red rose and the other was a purple rose. She had decided what she was at lease going to wear.

After a good twenty minutes Misheru had on the grey blouse and red skirt. She flatted the side of her blouse with the palms of her hands. She walked over to the mirrow and looked at herself and smiled slightly, it wasn't a bad combo of an out fit. She looked at her bag of makeup and frown slightly, if she wore makeup it might have been ruined by the mask that she was going to wear at the dance, there was no need for that. She picked up her hairbrush and brushed her light bonde hair, there was certain ways she wore her hair and straight down and wavy was the way for her. She didn't care for trying to place it up that would take longer and it was nearly dark outside.

She looked around and saw her katana and whip on her bed slightly. Going outside in a village that she was no familiar with was not something that she took lightly. Sure she was a guest here and had her passport but in the long run even that was not safe. She knew her katana would draw attention to herself and that was something that she did not want to do. Her whip on the other hand she could wear on her hip like always and her blouse would mostly cover it for her if anything she could play the whole card, "I am unaware of the rules here..." tho that was something that she didn't want to really do at this time. She walked over and picked her whip up and placed it on her left side and covered it with her blouse. She went and grabbed a half inch heals to wear to the dance and placed them on.

With everything ready besides the mask she walked out of the door and locked it. She headed into the streets of Konoha, feeling a bit out of place, but decided to ignore the feeling and stares that she was getting from the people in the streets. She saw a stand that was selling masks for the festival she decided to look there to see if she liked anything. After a few minutes of searching for a mask she found a white mask that covered her eyes and apart of her left cheek. There was a vine like curve around the mask that Misheru liked. She brought the mask and fastened that on top of her whip. She might has well look at the games first, there was still time to go there first without missing too much. Also it was not like she had anyone to go with either.

She walked into the building that hosted the games. She saw one game that caught her eyes first. She walked over to the counter and studied it for a moment. She did noticed the sign that stated no ninjutsu was allowed to be used on the games. Well that sign was for those that was caught not the ones that could get away with it for the most part. There was those shinobi that could get away from all this, but Misheru was not one to do anything like the sort. Plus because of her height it would seem like she was more likely taken as a Genin instead of the Jounin that she was. She sometimes hates her height.

She watched the man dressed up just like her, most likely going to the ball part after a few game right. She heard the comment of the monkey and smirked slightly to herself. She knew he was not a Genin or Chuunin it was just one of those things that most knew what rank others was just how they carried yourself. "Too bad there," she said has she paid her a round herself. She never did like these games but if she could hit a few targets by luck that would show something now right? She tossed one and watched it hit its target. She the proceeded to toss the others. To her shock they reach hit their target, another smirk graced her lips has she was asked what her prize would be. She shrugged some. "Give the monkey his monkey." She pointed over to Shono and started to walk away from the booth.

[Nara Shono]

With the shear number of people walking around it was impossible to know who had bumped Shono, but that didn't deter him from scanning the crowd to see if he could spot a person with a guilty face. As he unsuccessfully scanned the crowd a person, a female from the sound of her voice, had walked up beside him and given her words of condolence. He looked down to her, literally down, as she was very noticeably shorter than himself, almost by a full foot. Shono watched as she put her money down and was given the same number of rings that he had been given. "Hope you have better luck than I do."

Watching as her first toss successfully hit its mark, Shono racked his brains to try to remember if he had ever seen this girl before. Shono knew many different people, even if those people did not know him. A good mental database of faces and names could prove useful, that's why Shono tried to remember every name and face he came across. As he watched the second and third rings get tossed onto the pole his brain racking was yielding poor results. This girl didn't seem familiar to him, so there was a good possibility that she was either not from Konoha, or, she was and he had just never ran across her before. Being the height she was Shono got the impression that she was either a genin or chuunin, but he wasn't very sure on this either.

As the fifth and final ring was successfully tossed Shono was still unsure about who this girl was. He watched as the person managing the game asked her what prize she wanted, and he was shocked by her answer. "Give the monkey his monkey, she's one brash person....but that is a clever play on words....just who is this girl?" While Shono thought that over the girl had started to walk away from the booth. He stopped after one step when the person in the booth called to him to take the prize that the girl had just won. Shono took monkey from the man and began to walk in the direction the girl was walking, he just had to know who she was after an answer like that.

While Shono quickened his pace to catch up to her, he threw the monkey onto his back and wrapped the arms around his neck, sticking the velcro that it had on its hands together so that it would stay on his back without him having to hold onto it. After a short but quickened walk he finally was able to match his pace with her's and walk beside her. He pulled the mask off his face and placed it inside his cloak, tilting his hat up slightly so that his whole face was easily visible. "Uh, hi there. First off, thanks for the monkey. Secondly, I kinda liked your play on words back there, the whole 'we evolved from monkeys, so since i'm a monkey give him his monkey' was very clever....and kinda brave to say to a person you don't know. Thirdly, since we've never met before my name is Shono, and i'm a Jounin from this village....so who are you if I may ask?

The curiousity was getting the better of him. Shono was always on the friendly side, trying to make friends with many different people. So this situation seemed like the familiar kind, except that there was something about this person that was intriguing him. Before the girl could give any type of answer Shono added one extra comment to further expand on his previous comments, but this seemingly harmless extra comment could unknowingly be a dagger for the whole conversation. "I know many of the people in this village and am quite sure i've never run across you. So i'm guessing you're either not from here, or, given your shorter height, you're a Genin or Chuunin and we've just never crossed paths because of our positional differences."

[Oyamada Misheru]

Misheru didn't even comment on the fact that this taller person wished her luck. She didn't need any luck from anyone that she did not know on a personal matter. It was just not right in the long run of things for her. Plus she did not believe in luck because nothing that she had gotten had ever came from luck to start with. It was not luck but skill that she held within her skilles that she would continued to relay on the skill that she knew she had. She smirked once the last one hit its mark, she was done with this game and there was no need to show off to him, she had no reason to prove to him how skilled she was, it was not like she was on a mission at the moment, well she was but she had time off and she was going to use to for her own little need.

When she had started to walk away from the booth and after the guy got his monkey she knew she was being followed. Sometimes she wanted to know why guys just could not just take their prizes and walk off, they usually had to come after and question her about something that rather annoyed her for the most part. There was something completely difference as this guy came up and started to talk to her like she did something good or something. He wanted to know who she was and thank her for the monkey. He even liked her little comment back there, she didn't think that it was that much of a big deal, most people would have not gotten that line even if they was smart.

Misheru knew that she was going to have to be really careful what she said and did around him for the most part. She listened to his name, the only name that he gave her was Shono. She ran though the names she knew in her head from either looking at the world's bingo book or Kirigakure that name did not pop out of no where, so the only choice she had to do was either ask or assume that he was a no body in the ranks of Joinin this village. "Pathetic allowing anyone with the small set of skills to be a Jounin...this is way the Leaf is weak... She pushed back some of her hair has she kept on going. She really didn't want to talk to him to her he seemed rather annoying for the most part.

She was just about ready to excuse herself from his present when he started to talk again and could not interrupt him has he talked about knowing everyone in the village and guess that she was either a Genin or Chuunin because of her height. Her eye twitched nearly every time that someone mentioned because of her height that she was a low class ninja like that. She was about ready to each for her katana to hold it up to his throat and give him something deadly to think about when she realized that she had left it in her room and that she only had her whip on her side. Drawing that out here with a crowd of people she could hit anyone and that was something that most likely would not be forgiven easily by most.

She would settle for the next best thing. She stopped dead in her tracks and slammed her left elbow into his gut. That would make him realize to think before he comment on something like that. "Oyamada Misheru, Jounin of the Hidden Mist Village. I am here escorting one of our Chuunin in the Jounin Exams. Comment on my height again like that and I swear I will make you regret those words that come out of your mouth." She was not kidding and there was nothing in her voice that would suggest other wise. She kinda wished that he would be stupid enough to do that, it would give her a reason to use her whip and make him cry a bit, well that if he was weak for one thing. She pushed some of her blonde hair out of her face and looked around some to see what she could do and try and get away from this man.

[Nara Shono]

Nothing that Shono had said seemed disrespectful or wrong in any way, so the type of response he received was a bit of a shocker. His gaze shifted from all the games that were lined up in neat rows to the girl walking beside him when she suddenly stopped. The first thing that crossed Shono's mind was that she had spotted a game that she wanted to play, and this assumption was dead wrong. In a very quick motion Shono witnessed the girl's elbow swing straight towards his stomach. There was no time to avoid or block the fierce elbow to his stomach, the only thing he had time to do was tighten up his abdominal muscles to at least avoid getting the wind knocked out of himself.

In a state of mild shock and pain, Shono listened as the girl introduced herself as Oyamada Misheru, a Jounin from the Hidden Mist Village. The emphasis on Jounin was well taken in, and so was the fact that if he commented on her height again he'd regret it. Never in Shono's life had he offended someone so drastically. In one sentence he had gotten her ranking wrong, which was enough for any ninja to get offended by, and at the same time call her short. Calling a person short was just as bad as calling a person fat it seemed, a quick mental note was made to never, ever, comment about someone's height without knowing for absolute certain if they were touchy about it.

In all that commotion one might overlook the last bit of info Misheru had given about why she was in the Leaf Village, but Shono had heard it clearly. What the big question was what course of action he should take after this... interesting, greeting. Shono was always the one to try and make friends despite his lazy nature, so just walking away from Misheru after insulting her was just not an option. Shono put on his apologetic face, which was a little hard to do with the small winces of pain he was feeling. But he wouldn't put his hand on his stomach to show he was hurt or show it on his face, to show weakness right now would do nothing for his appearance or his Jounin ranking.

"I'm truly sorry, I won't comment on your height like that ever again, my stomach wouldn't appreciate me getting those elbows." An attempt at humor was made to try and soften the mood, if it could be softended that is. There was a good chance that with what had transpired, the whole walking away then elbowing his stomach thing, Misheru wanted nothing to do with him. So Shono quickly thought up a solution that he was sure Misheru couldn't turn down. "I can pick up slight hints from your body language that you probably don't want me around anymore, but the thing is I actually don't want to leave. Seeing as you're not from this village I kinda want to get to know you better, and the fact that you're escorting a Chuunin for the Jounin exams also intrigues me a bit. So i'm going to make a proposition. I'm going to pick a single game from the hundreds here, and if you can beat me in it i'll leave you alone....but, if I beat you, I can stick around a bit and get to know you better...who knows, maybe we'll actually become slight friends, you did give me this monkey after all...."

The apologetic smile that had once crossed Shono's face had twisted into a slighltly more sinister one. "Oh yeah, if you say no to this propostion i'll take it as a sign that you want me to stick around anyways....so I'm guessing I should pick out a game then huh?" Shono knew that Misheru had to accept the challenge if she wanted any chance of getting rid of him. So Shono took a quick glance around and found a suitable game to play, being only a few yards away he pointed at it.

"That one looks good, a ball tossing into tic-tac-toe formation game." From the looks of it a person was given seven balls to try and toss onto a board with 10x10 circular holes to try and create a four-ball tic-tac-toe alignment. "If you can line up more balls in a row than me i'll leave you alone, but if I line up more I can hang around and talk....ladies first, so how about it?" With a gesture of his hand towards the game, Shono awaited the answer that he already suspected he'd get.

[Oyamada Misheru]

Misheru was not shocked that her elbow thrust didn't really seem to make a impact on Shono. He was a Jounin just like her and a good elbow hit to the stomach was not going to take her down without a really good reason. Her elbowing him in the stomach was not a good enough reason for him to whimper in pain. Sure she might have threw in a small chakra amount there just to get her point of cross but he had asked for it. She hated when someone commented on her height and assume that she was either a Chuunin or Genin by her appearance. It was just not fair for them to just think that. The only one that got away with tormenting her about her height was her own twin brother, and even he had his limits when teasing her like that.

What shocked Misheru the most was that Shono kept talking at how she wanted him to leave. The one thought that ran across her mind was why he was still talking and why he was still in her present. He was right, she did want him to leave her alone but when he started to talk about how he was not going to leave her alone it only made her grin and wish that she had her katana with her. It was not every day that she meet someone that wanted to put up with her attitude, she was more of the type of person that really wanted to be left alone. It was just how she was because of how she was raised and had to deal with things in the Hidden Mist before the change in everything.

When he started to talk about playing a game and if she won he would leave her alone, if she didn't play he would follow her until she snapped. Making enemies at the moment with the Leaf was not the reason why she was here, because she had brought the Chuunin here now it was her semi vacation away from all the missions and that and this jerk wanted to ruin it for her. It was not exactly fair for her in the long run and she wanted to stab him repeatedly with her sword but the only thing she could do was choke him to death with her whip and that would cause problems that she did not need.

Misheru found that in the long run that she had no other way but to play at his game and beat it him at it. This was the only way that she saw herself getting away from this over bearing person. Was she so wrong at winning the monkey? She had no need for the stupid thing, and now he was making a big deal out of something. She brought her left hand up to her temple and rubbed it slightly as if she had a headache. "...You leave me no choice but to play at your little game. I hate games." She thought she needed to point that out to Shono now as he went and picked their little game. She just opened that she could beat him at it.

She followed him to the booth that he had picked and listened to him to tell her the rules. She looked around the booth, she noted that he did have the advantage over her because of her height, which she didn't really mind either. Her going first was something that she could use, but the again would have to make sure that she stayed ahead of him on the count of more in a row. She sighed slightly and folded her arms slightly as she focused on the game at hand. She wanted to win this, but was unsure exactly what he was capable of doing. He might just have more of advantage to her because he did pick it. "What is he playing at...why does he want to get to know me....all so weird..." She looked over to him and studies him and picking up one of the balls in her left hand. "Tell me, exactly would you want to know me? We are from two different village. There is no reason to extend your hand of friendship to me like this." With that she didn't even look where she threw the ball, looking now would only make her wander why she was still standing here in front of him.

[Nara Shono]

The assumption Shono had that Misheru would have to say yes to playing the game was right on the money. A smile spread across his face as the agreed to play the game, but the last comment about how she hated games seemed like an opposite statement to the actions that she had displayed. She had after all stopped at the booth where Shono was playing the ring toss game and had willingly played without anyone telling her to. If she truely hated games she wouldn't have bothered stopping at the booth or even showing up to the festival at all, and if she hadn't then she wouldn't have been in the situation she was in right now. So after that thought process over one little comment Shono's final assessment was that it was a ploy to try and lure him into a false sense of security. An elaborate answer that probably wasn't needed, she might just not like games, but Shono was a thinker so he thunk.

They walked over to the booth and Misheru accepted going first. Shono watched her pick up the ball in her left hand. "So she's a lefty, that's good to know...." He waited for her to throw the ball, already planning countless number of moves to her potential throw, but he was hindered by a question from Misheru. The question wasn't really expected, Shono expected them to go back and forth tossing balls in silence until a winner was decided and then take it from there. This was a happy alternative to stone cold silence, so he was going to roll with it.

"Well, the reason I want to know you is simply because I don't know you." The simplest, and quite possibly the most frustrating answer for Misheru to hear. Realizing that he probably hadn't given the more in-depth answer than Misheru was looking for he decided to expand on it. "I like meeting new people and learning things about them, it's just the way I am I guess. The fact that you're from a completely different village gives me even more motivation to know you. How many chances does a person get to meet and know someone from a different village other than on the battlefield? This is also the reason for me to extend my hand in friendship. Good terms with shinobi from different villages leads to and maintains good village relations."

Just like Shono had stated earlier he knew many people even if they didn't know him. This was because he liked to make friends, so knowing things about people was the easiest way to be able to start up a conversation and become friends. It also didn't hurt that they had come to the festival alone so someone to talk to seemed like a good thing for both. While he had given his answer Misheru had gone and tossed her ball without even looking at the board. When he had finished his answer, Shono grabbed one of his balls with his right hand and looked over to the board. He analyzed where Misheru's ball had landed and decided on the best option. With a flick of the wrist he sent his ball soaring through the air towards the board, and after it bounced around for a bit it landed directly to the right of Misheru's ball, just where he had planned it to go.

The competitive side of Shono was coming out now, and the familiar desire to not lose was presenting itself. He was very confident in his ability, and since the game was one big strategy game he felt like he was the favorite to win. After his ball had landed he turned back to Misheru and waited for her to toss her next ball, but while she did so Shono had his own question to ask, seeing as how the gate of asking questions had been opened by Misheru. "You said before you hated games, and from what's happened you don't really like company a whole lot. So why did you even stop at the booth, win the monkey, and then give me the monkey? There's a good chance that if you do that to anybody their probably gonna wanna talk to you. Though I guess the elbow to the gut would have shoo'd many of them away, but I'm one of the few that's not detered by that."

[Oyamada Misheru]

Misheru watched him throw his first ball and then explain why he wanted to make friends with her. She didn't have many friends due to the upbringing she had. Not many could say that they took the life of their best friend. Misheru had the experience and it haunted her nearly every day of her life. She hated to get close to people for that reason. She didn't like to feel those emotions that came with them. She had even cut most of her ties with her own twin brother because of these reason. Everyone dies, but it is by who that really effects someone for the most part.

She grinned slightly at his reasoning and shook her head. She could not just see to making friends and having them die like that. It was better for all if everyone just kept to themselves. Tho that also raised the reason of being loyal for Misheru. She was not really feeling that she was loyal to anyone for the most part because her lacks of emotions. It took her a moment or so to actually look up at Shono in the eyes. Her eyes was distance. "I don't like making friends. Specially from other villages that would later turn on their allies and start a war. There is no need for all that."

She looked over the board and saw there the ball had landed. She was not even really going to play this game. She was not sure if Shono was going to stick to his word or not about leaving her alone after it no because of her comment about friendship. She serious needed someone to tell her that it was okay to have friends, but no one around her had ever dreamed of doing that or if they did, they was afraid of the Jounin's reaction. The reaction of someone calling her short had already been displayed by her many times, and it was not something that many wanted to experience again. Shono tonight had gotten off extremely lucky.

She took a deep breath and study just slightly. She tossed her second ball back and further between her hands before taking it up in her right hand. She tossed it up in the air in front of her and smacked it with the back of her hand has it started to come down. The ball landed just landed two to the right of Shono's first ball. She had no goal in winning at the moment. He was going to bug her no matter what tonight, the only problem was that she didn't have her sword to place him in his place.

She looked over to him when he asked about playing the game and giving him the monkey. It was only a matter time before he brought that up. She knew it was coming and really didn't prepare an answer for him. She looked away and acted like she was studying the game for the most part at the moment. Tho she was just trying to postpone answering the question. "I did it because I am bored. I have no need for the monkey or anything else that booth could have offered me. It just something to get in the way. Just like you are doing right now. If I had my sword you wouldn't be standing here after that moment you made before. And by luck you made it alive after that, your request about playing this silly game would have gone to waste. Its a silly game filled with only luck and strategy. Luck is something I don't believe in. I want you to leave me alone that is for sure. You are not interesting to me. Just something to gut later."

When she stopped talking, her voice showed no emotions and nor did her face for that matter. She did however find Shono some bit interesting but her guard was up. He was also cute in his own little way, but there was no way that she was going to tell him that in a million years. This would be most likely the only night she would see him. So why even act like there was a reason to get to know him anymore?

[Nara Shono]

A perfect throw that Shono was happy with, in his head he was already winning the game with only one of the seven balls being tossed. The joy that came with a perfect throw was subdued when Misheru started to talk about her view of making friends. Her outlook of making friends was dark and painful, no optimism in sight. "Wow, usually people aren't this dark in their views unless something traumatic has happened..." Shono had no way of knowing Misheru's past and everything she had been through, but Shono had gone through some traumatic stuff too. Two people with traumatic pasts, one going down the path of pesimism while the other optimism.

When Misheru made a grab at her second ball Shono decided it was a good time to respond her to friendship comments. "This world is full of bad people with bad intentions, and those intentions are usually what lead to the wars. It's a sad thought that you might have to fight a friend from a different village because of these people, but I still don't think that that should keep you from making those friends. Why take that chance of not making friends on the off chance their's a war? That's like not eating your favorite candy because someday they might not make it anymore. You can't know that for sure, all you can do is hope for the best and prepare for the worst."

It seemed that Shono really liked his little speeches, because he had done quite a few of them for such a short amount of time with someone. That fact dawned on him just as he finished speaking. He made a little mental note to try and keep his future talking points to that of a smaller amount. No wonder people thought he was too smart for his own good, he talked too much sometimes. After making that note he watched Misheru's second toss fly through the air and land to the right of his ball, a defensive toss if he'd ever seen one.

As he picked up his second ball and looked over the board to where to throw it, Misheru began to answer his question. The response was not one that Shono was expecting, it was very in your face honest, mixed with a little bit of threat, and sprinkled with contempt. The only little bit of that answer that Shono could smirk slightly at was the sword part. Unbenounced to Misheru, Shono had his own sword hidden on his waist by the cloak he was wearing. So if she had brought her sword and pulled it out Shono would have been forced to pull his own sword, and that would have been a sight to see.

Many people would have walked away...actually, more like ran away, by now because of just how thick Misheru was laying on the threats. Call it stupidity, call it un-willingness to walk away from a person that, to Shono, was just begging to have a friend, or call it laziness for it would be to much work to walk away after all that had happened, but Shono stood his ground to show he wasn't going anywhere. "Heh, I don't buy that 'not interesting' remark, if I wasn't interesting she wouldn've just walked away or at least done something more than elbow me to try and get me away..."

"If you had your sword, if you hadn't come to the booth, if you hadn't won that monkey, these are all just if's. The fact is you won that monkey for me and now you're standing here playing this game with me. If you really wanted me to leave you alone I think you'd have done more to succeed, not blame the lack of a sword....not like having it would have made any difference, you have no idea what I have on me right now..." A sly smile spread across his face as he said the last part. That would make her wonder a bit about just who he was and what he was capable of in a very non-threatening way.

One little part of Misheru's answer that was really nagging at Shono was her comments about the game they were playing. She was half right saying it was strategy, but the way Shono saw it there was no luck involved. If you planned correctly you could easily line up more balls than your opponent. Also, if you figured out the physics behind how the ball would bounce and fall then you could, once again, easily put the ball exactly where you wanted. Shono looked back to the game and decided he would show Misheru just how much 'luck' was really going on. "Ya know, I don't believe in luck that much either. Rather, a person creates their own luck, so what i'm about to do should seem really lucky..."

What happened next was sure to amaze not only Misheru, but anybody that happened to be watching him toss at that moment. Shono picked up the five remaining balls that were before him so that there were three balls in each hand. He looked at the board and started to do very difficult calculations very quickly in his head. After a brief period of time it was time to amaze. In one fell swoop Shono through all six balls into the air towards the board. Each one bounced around, sometimes even bouncing off one-another until the first two balls settled into the holes directly to the top and bottom of Shono's first ball. The next two balls did the exact same thing to the balls that had landed before them, and so did the last two balls. After the last one settled what was present before them was one long, straight line consisting of seven balls. It was hard enough for the average person to line up even five balls, let alone all seven with one toss of all the balls.

Looking at his handywork Shono knew he had just won and had done so in dramatic fashion."Like I said, I only believe in luck that we make for ourselves...that and calculated risks. I know we were supposed to go back and forth but that was taking to long, and since now you can't technically win because two of your balls are split apart, that makes me the winner." Since it was still a game they were playing, the guy running the booth walked over and asked what prize Shono wanted. "I'll take that black wolf..." Once he had ahold of the prize he turned towards Misheru. "This is for you, it's thanks for the monkey you gave earlier, and also because I went ahead and tossed all the balls at once, though you have to admit it was a great shot."

Now that the game was done there was the unknowingness of what to do next. The sun was really starting to set in the sky so it would be only a matter of time before the game booths closed and the dance began. That's when the idea presented itself. "Since I won that means I get to stick around and get to know you better...so, what do ya say to heading over to the dance? Could be alot of fun." Shono looked down to Misheru as he spoke, and at the same time extending his right arm in a gentlemenly fashion for her to take ahold of. Whether she would was a mystery, and with everything that she had said to him there seemed to be a small chance of it happening. But Shono extended it anyway, even a small chance is still a chance.