[Miyamoto Ikana]

Ikana had been living more comfortably than she had previously, adapting to her life and putting a number of her inner demons behind her as she came to cope. She was still running her shop/stall, same as always, and it had felt as if it was a comfortable place and condition. Was everything honey coated and sweet now? No, absolutely not, but it was better than it was yesterday. She thought back to how she felt abandoned and alone in her past, and she'd come to realize as she got older that she shouldn't have been so sour at anyone for not being there for her. Slipping back into the persona of her earliest days. She was a Kunoichi.

Her worth was in her service, her value was in her skills and abilities, as well as what she could provide. To be used up, thrown away, or to be deemed disposable? That was in the job. She was...is an orphan. That was how she was destined to live really. She found herself amazed at the installations of electricity, having seen things in the better parts of town that she'd never really seen available to the mass public. Things she never thought she'd find beyond hospitals, or the Mizukage Tower. However, she while cleaning her clothes one day found that slip of paper. From the man known as Yamaguchi Daichi. She thought back to his kindness in him buying her goods. Taking the time out of his day to waste it on her. To talk to her like a human being.

So, making herself look a little bit nicer, she found herself walking to his home, a bento wrapped in some cloth as she came to look for where he lived. Before eventually being brazen enough to walk to his door and knock. She was dressed in a long sleeve blue shirt with fish net mesh along her chest. Slim fitting black pants that clung tightly to her form, and a light grey scarf which was wrapped around her neck in the cold weather. She wasn't sure if he'd remember her, but she remembered him. With her mouth covered, and her hair somewhat longer than previously, she'd slowly hold out the bento in question. Her knuckles a light pink as she'd rub her hands if he'd take it. "Ko-nichi-wa. I wanted to show you my thanks and appreciation. Even...If you don't remember who I am." She had too much food anyways.

She lived alone. She ate alone. She was largely alone other than the times she sought out others. Thus, she came to show her offering to the man before her. One of the few that showed seemingly genuine and pure sympathy where others...sort of just didn't know, or ignored her. Someone who wanted to be an adult that Ikana could come to rely on. She rubbed her right arm subconsciously, thinking about her descent and then general rise again to be somewhat respectable. "My name is Ikana." 

[yamaguchi daichi]

I COULD EAT THE WORLD RAW

Daichi lived on his own, and had for a few years, ever since he promoted to chuunin and got that lovely pay bump. Living with his mom had been tantamount to living on his own, since she was a workaholic and constantly out on missions—but it was still a little grating, a little shameful. It was nicer to have a place to call his own. It wasn’t fancy, mind. A three-room apartment in not the nicest part of town, with not quite enough space for a teenage boy and his two huge dogs, given that the two huge dogs had a bad habit of sprawling over every soft surface and also directly in Daichi’s way. Not exactly fit for hosting, but then, Daichi didn’t spend much time at home either, and he certainly never invited anyone over. Not that he hadn’t thought about it. A lot. Isamu, Asahi, Kenshin, Kimihiro, T— A knock sounded on Daichi’s front door. Hoshi picked her head up from where she had been dead asleep on the couch, but she didn’t grumble or bark, so he opened the door to find— "Ikana-san!” he said brightly, cutting the poor girl off even as she tried to greet him. "Of course I remember!” It had been a while—a year, even? He hadn’t seen her since the exams—and… well, a lot had happened. All of that was in the past, though. He took the bento hesitantly, as if he wasn’t quite sure what he was looking at. She made him… food? That was— Well, he didn’t know what to make of it. The last time anyone had cooked for him had been Toru, when Daichi was on bedrest after that one mission, and before that… his dad, probably. Years ago. "I—thank you! Come on in,” he said, propping the door open to usher the girl inside. "Sorry about the dog hair, I swear the girls are clean, they just insist on shedding everywhere. Tea? How have you been?” Did he have tea? He didn’t make it much for himself; it was more of an at-work thing, since Mizukage drank tea by what seemed like the gallon. But Daichi’s small kitchen had a smaller dining table, which he set the bento on as he went about hunting through his cabinets for cups, tea, kettle.

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LAIKA OF THQ

[Miyamoto Ikana]

When the door opened? She found herself humbly bowing her head upon his greeting. It had been a bit. She was surprised how he'd remembered her. It had made her genuinely smile for a moment. Before she slowly came inside upon his welcome. "It's not a problem sir." She bows again, before slipping her sandals off as to be polite. When asked for tea? "Yes please." She'd learned it was polite to take what your host offered, and as she slowly walked inside, she found herself thinking about that question. How had she been? That was a surprisingly difficult question to answer.

He'd find that she had made fishcake stirfry. Made in sweet soysauce with grilled onions, and a few pepper with the seeds removed. There was rice, as well as sliced omelet in another compartment, and a compartment of miso soup with bonito stock and tofu. It was a simple meal, but considering Ikana lived by herself, she learned to cook. Since she learned to cook, she'd often had leftovers that she couldn't finish. So why not share? She looked momentarily to the big dogs in the corner, and with it, she seemed a little bit shy, folding her hands behind her back.

"Well. I suppose I've...Grown up." She said. Although she wasn't really sure if that was the right way to put it. Closing her eyes in that smile, she seemed nice and pleasant. "I wanted to thank you. For paying me attention. I've come because. Well? I was wondering if you could help me train!~" The way she spoke might have been a farcry from the darker and cynical Ikana from a while back. Higher pitched, more vibrant, and lively. It was as if she'd had a total flip of mood perhaps, considering the circumstances. Though. In what?

"I was hoping some training for my reflexes. My fighting and combat experience. I'm...Kind of lacking in those things I feel."

[yamaguchi daichi]

I COULD EAT THE WORLD RAW

Daichi’s own cooking skill was relatively barebones, being a teenage boy who cared less about the quality of his food than the quantity of it, so while he could technically cook, the gift that Ikana brought to him looked to his evil eyes like a top-notch gourmet meal. He could cry. "Ikana, this is amazing,” he said, setting out his freshly brewed tea. (This, at least, he knew how to do; he made a fresh pot what felt like a dozen times a day, since he and Toru drank so much of the stuff in the office.) "And you don’t—just Daichi is fine. We’re friends, right?” He would—and had—snap at anyone who attempted to address the Mizukage so casually, but it made im viscerally uncomfortable for anyone to call him sir. Ikana seemed to have cheered up considerably since their last meeting—definitely an improvement, given how grim and dour she had been during the exams. Daichi was glad to see it. "Yeah, absolutely,” he said, easily agreeing to her request. "I’m not—well, I’m not the best at hand-to-hand fighting, but I think we can cook something up. Um…” He sipped at his tea thoughtfully, his gaze sliding from Ikana to the lazy, snoozing dogs. "Okay, here’s an idea,” he said. "We can change things up depending on how much of a challenge you need. Just you and I, and you can work on dodging techniques and projectiles—if that’s too easy, add Hoshi into the mix, and you can work on dodging me while Hoshi is also keeping you busy. Or I can see if Bai—one of the owls—would be up to helping us out, and you can work on dodging me while Bai is also keeping you busy. What do you think?”

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LAIKA OF THQ