2103/All You Can't Eat

All You Can't Eat
Date of Scene:	04 November 2016
Location:	Pikarigaoka - Clover Tower
Synopsis:	Kunzite meets with Ayana about some trouble she's having with school, and suspects it's a little more than ... just school. Also? Ayana's eyes are FINALLY too big for her stomach.
Cast of Characters:	Kunzite, Ayana

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Kunzite has posed:
<PHONE> You text Kunzite: i hate going 2 school
<PHONE> A text from Kunzite: <Response delayed by several hours> School is a process of working your way through things you hate till either you find a way not to hate them, or you emerge victorious and triumphant at the end with the ability to do more things. What do you hate about it most?
<PHONE> You text Kunzite: being human
<PHONE> You text Kunzite: their all mean 2 me, bc im weird - sometimes i just want 2 shut them up with gloom
<PHONE> A text from Kunzite: Wanting to is understandable. Doing it... well. Ikiko isn't happy with the Shadow Witch. I doubt she'd be happy with you, either.
<PHONE> A text from Kunzite: Maybe we can find better ways to deal with the problem.
<PHONE> You text Kunzite: i didnt feel this way b4 - my fur is black again
<PHONE> A text from Kunzite: Maybe we should get together. May I buy you dinner? Or you and Ikiko, if the two of you prefer?
<PHONE> You text Kunzite: just me. shes too dumb to get it.
<PHONE> A text from Kunzite: All right, if you'd rather.
<PHONE> You text Kunzite: i eat a lot. do u want me to bring $$?
<PHONE> A text from Kunzite: No need to bring money. I'll take care of it. And yes, I remember how you eat, and know what I'm getting myself into.

A couple of quick queries resulted in names of acceptable places; it's not that Kazuo -- by whichever name Ayana decides to refer to him today -- knows Ayana's history with this one, it's just that this one was willing to accept patent bribery not to kick them out.

(What Takashi was testing a year ago and what he's testing today are entirely different things.)

He's waiting outside; since she saw him last, his hair's finished growing back in, improbably long and pale as it ought to be. So one of them looks right.

Or is that both of them? It may be hard to tell which it is, for the reblackened fox.

Ayana has posed:
Cute skirts and stripey socks are the norm for the kitsune. So why is it she's abandoned all of that in favor of a hoodie--hood pulled high--black tights and a pair of low-slung jean shorts? She's not even bothering to hide her tails behind a mask of illusion; hopefully people will just assume it's cosplay. Her ears are hidden beneath the hood, but only barely. Hands in her pockets, Ayana looks every bit the sullen teenager.

She approaches on foot, blue eyes downcast, lips taught. The people between her and her destination almost seem to part, giving her uncertain looks as if they are quite sure she's done something to them, but they aren't quite sure what.

To Kazuo, however, it's likely apparent: there it is, just a faint aura of gloom surrounding the girl, draining those she passes in little nibbles and bites.

Kunzite has posed:
In the form he's in, he has no defense against that; the teenager he was born as in this life was only a teenager, all his powers latent, and for the most part the new body he was given takes its model from that. Still. At her approach, he turns to meet her all the same. Either she'll exempt him from her power, and he'll be unscathed, or she won't -- and at least the well he has to draw on is deeper than theirs, and the power that he stores there deeper than a surface touch can draw on.

"You are hungry," he says, all the same. "Have you been exerting yourself, to work up such an appetite?"

Ayana has posed:
It's the words that draw Ayana out of her sulk. She looks up in confusion, and the gloom that surrounds her contracts back within. She blinks at him in confusion, then glances back at the people behind her, then grimaces. "Walking," she tells him. "A lot. Thinking more than that."

The girl looks up to him uncertainly, then lowers her gaze again and shrugs. "Sorry," she mumbles. "I didn't mean to do it. I just ..." she trails off, then shrugs again. "I don't even know what I'm doing anymore."

Kunzite has posed:
"Likely for a reason." He offers her his arm, solemn as if he were escorting her to a dance rather than to ramen. "Even if we might not know what the reason is. What have you been thinking about?" Not always a good question to ask the fox -- the answer might be anything, and might be very long. Or might be very short indeed. But he watches her steadily, meets her eyes when she looks up to him, doesn't force the issue when she looks away. And if he's searching those eyes for some hint in their color, well, that doesn't need to be said aloud just yet.

Ayana has posed:
Ayana's eyes widen just a little at that offered arm. And she hesitates, uncertainly, before slowly reaching up to put her small hand into the crook of his elbow. "I don't even know," she claims quietly, as she looks away once more. That's a lie so obvious even the trickster can't hide it. "Just ... everything. Why I'm here. What I'm doing. Where I'm going."

As she speaks, she huddles up a little closer, until her hooded head is just leaning on his bicep. "Everyone around me has these big dreams about what they want to do when they grow up, and I'm not even sure if I'm going to grow up. Or how fast. Or what I'll be like. And they treat me like some kind of freak, because I'm good at math but I suck at everything else. And I can't help it if I sniff things constantly, or I flinch at loud noises."

"And then, overnight, my hair turned black again," Ayana tells Kunzite quietly. "And now everyone remembers me from last year, and I'm getting picked on for being held back. But also they avoid me except in large groups because ... I'm cursed, or I'm weird. I don't know. I hate it. I don't want to go anymore."

Kunzite has posed:
It's not her hair that's petted, or precisely her ears. Her hood's in the way. But he lays a hand on that, a suggestion of security that doesn't actually hold her head in place.

"I hated school, too," he says quietly. "Nothing felt right. Everything was boring or made no sense, except a couple of things that I loved; and everyone claimed to know that either you should be working hard at everything or not doing anything at all. So people insulted me, and I got in fights, and after I won a few too many of those, they wouldn't go near me except in groups, either."

He draws a breath, deeper, as if trying to test her scent with those clumsy and deadened human senses; lets it out after a moment. "But that didn't turn out to be all that was going on with me then, and I don't think it's all that's going on with you now. Your hair turned black. When orange went away for a little while?"

He should be guiding her into the restaurant. But that miserable huddle makes it hard to move her, without her deciding on her own to be moving.

Ayana has posed:
Ayana squeezes a little tighter to his ar m, leaning into the headpat, or maybe just hiding from the world in the safety of his presence. "Yeah, I guess," she mumbles. "When the orange went away, I woke up like this again. This is what I looked like before, isn't it? When I was with him? Ikiko won't talk about it, much. She says I'm 'more free than I've ever been'. But I don't feel very free."

Kunzite has posed:
"You should be," he answers her. "But if you were purified before, and there was lingering orange in you ... all there should be, now, should be you and the divine favor you bear. Instead, you're doing things you don't mean to do, things that you shouldn't be able to do without intent; you still are yourself, but in small things you're making choices that don't seem like yours. And your reactions are changed. The things happening in school are things that would normally annoy you, but you're neither ignoring them nor thinking of pranks and ways to show them up -- instead, you're falling toward anger and despair. That's not like you."

His fingers work their way down the back of her hood, pressure against her hair and scalp, but not enough to bend her head or shift it beneath his hand. "So I think there may be a reason you don't feel very free. I think it may be one we can do something about. There are people we can talk with. It doesn't have to be right now, if you'd like dinner first."

Ayana has posed:
Ayana's eyes close, and her tails wag just a tiny bit at the headrubs. She lets the sensation linger for several moments--lets his words hang unanswered for a time. Then she lets out a soft sigh and nods her head. "Food sounds good," she agrees. "Especially food I don't have to cook or pay for."

Kunzite has posed:
(It's very good cosplay.)

"I promised," Kazuo assures her. "My treat." Technically Mamoru's, admittedly. But it's rare enough that he uses any of his 'pay' that it may as well count. He doesn't rush Ayana toward the restaurant doors; but he does angle them gently that way.

Energy that isn't stolen from other people might help, too. Just a tiny bit.

Ayana has posed:
Ayana nods her head just faintly, and allows herself to be led inside. Her nose starts twitching as soon as the door is open, and some small distance is created between them as instinct draws her towards food and away from affection. "I remember this place," Ayana mumbles to herself, almost excitedly, as she sniffs the air again. "They have really good tofu and egg ramens. Oh, and their pork ramen is also really good."

Kunzite has posed:
That's better. That's a little better, anyhow. Being greedy for food isn't the best of signs in all people, but for Ayana, not wanting food is the thing that should set off alarms. He picks up his own pace a little to keep up, and points out a table a little to one side -- not so far away that the staff won't see them, not so much in the line of sight as to draw everyone's attention to the amount Ayana is about to concern. The mention of the tofu ramen brings just a little curve to one side of his mouth. Maybe the gifts he was told he should leave at certain shrines did something more, somewhere, than make him feel awkward and foolish.

(Or, given everything else, maybe they were designed to make doubters feel awkward and foolish.)

"Should we start you with all of those, then, or would you prefer to take them one at a time?"

Ayana has posed:
Those blue eyes light up again. "I can have all of them?" she asks, and once more her tail starts to wag. But by now she's settling in at the table he suggested, and perhaps no one will notice. "That sounds like a good start, yes. It'd be really tasty. What kind are you gonna have?"

Kunzite has posed:
"You can have all of them," he confirms, with that grave little nod. "Fish for me, I think. It'll be easier to tell apart from yours. At least from your first round."

... if they supply her with two or three bowls at once, she might take long enough to eat them that she might not fall back on making the I Have Never Been Fed In My Life eyes that all canidae seem to share before the next round can arrive. Maybe.

Ayana has posed:
Ayana finally pushes her hood back, revealing the fluffy black fox ears beneath. Her hair, of course, matches; once more she is the girl Takashi made. "Fish sounds delicious," she agrees, which isn't much of a surprise. If it's food, she would call it delicious. Maybe even if it's not food. "I think I'll have that after I finish the first three, and maybe some of the beef, too."

Kunzite has posed:
The girl Takashi made. Not, in and of itself, a terrible thing to be; much of the leeway Takashi's earned from Kunzite derives from that -- that he made better and truer than he cound understand.

It's the possibility that someone else might be trying to make her something that drives the anger that lies under that pale surface, now.

"You have a couple of minutes to decide," he agrees, apparently unworried. "Or, of course, we could simply ask them to work their way through the menu. But you might find choosing your own combinations to be more fun."

If they're there more than four hours or so, he'll have to remember to contact Ikiko and reassure her that she does not have a lost fox. Merely one happily adrift on a miso sea.

Ayana has posed:
If only Ayana could be certain he did make her better, she might not be so disheartened. "I'll probably wind up eating everything at least once," she says to Kunzite honestly. "I mean, it's all really good, and I don't like limiting myself."

Reaching up, Ayana strokes her own ears briefly, then asks, "So what do you think is wrong with me? Is my energy all screwed up or something?"

Kunzite has posed:
There is a moment's delay in answering that question -- a pause to talk to one of the staff, to confirm that yes, they are ordering that many, and yes, it's been prearranged, here is the name to check under. It's not as long a pause as it could be; her tablemate's not precisely the sort whose attitude encourages questions, or even much vocal disbelief.

When the waiter is gone to fetch Ayana's first round, Kunzite turns back to Ayana. "I can't see your energy clearly," he says. "Not while it's inside you; that's a kind of invasion of privacy that I don't have any inclination to make. But I think there may be something else mixed in with your energy. That might explain why you're doing things without intending to, or why you're not always sure what you're doing. Why uncertainties are upsetting you more than usual."

Ayana has posed:
Ayana keeps her head downcast while Kazuo deals with the orders. She doesn't interrupt, doesn't try to draw attention to herself, and certainly doesn't make eye contact with the serving staff. Of course, with her ears fully visible there might be questions, but she wouldn't answer them. Thankfully most probably assume a headband, which makes those questions less likely. She's just another weirdo.

When Kazuo returns to the topic at hand, Ayana raises her eyes just a little to look at him. "If you want to study my energy I don't mind. I trust you, Saito-senpai," she mumbles. "But I don't feel like there's anything else in there. Iki-chan said that Reiko's orange energy was influencing me, and that now it's gone so I'm free. Which I guess means that this is just ... me." Unless he's right. There's clearly thoughts churning behind those eyes; uncertainty as to whether he might be right.

Kunzite has posed:
Some probably assume a headband. Some might just not see them at all. Some might see, but choose not to ask.

When Ayana lifts her eyes, just a little, Kunzite lifts a hand in turn and lays it on the table between them. Offered contact, not obligatory contact. "That's possible," he says. "But if I understand the nature of the koi's energy, it should not have changed your nature. Given you more strength to express it, yes. Pushed away things that confined you, yes. But not changed your nature in itself. More -- there was another hand in restoring you, Ayana. And I don't think that hand would have left you by nature in this state. Your patron is the patron of things that grow and flourish and prosper. This is not what you look like when you are flourishing."

Ayana has posed:
The offered hand is given a long and considering look. The kitsune's ears twitch involuntarily at some noise that distracts her from her focus, but all as he speaks she's considering. Eventually, with a sudden motion, she reaches up to grab his hand with both of hers--contact desired, apparently. Then, as if worried he'll pull away, she looks up to his eyes for approval once more.

Of course he isn't going to pull away; that's why he offered in the first place.

Of course, he also let her touch him when they walked in; put her head on his shoulders. He even petted her head. What a foolish fox, to have been worried that this might not be acceptable. She blushes a little and looks away, then shrugs as she asks, "Then why hasn't my patron stopped me from getting worse?"

Kunzite has posed:
That look up to his eyes is met with a slight nod -- a matter-of-fact thing, as if her concern weren't foolish at all. His hand is human-warm, the same way that his scent has settled down to a human thing at the core, if touched with hints of spice and of sun-heated sand.

"I don't understand kami," he answers, straightforward. "But I understand your friends. They wouldn't have sought for a patron who would be a tyrant. The idea of something that would control your life and thinking in every particular -- that would be repellent to them.

"The best teachers, Ayana, don't order people to learn by rote, and don't fill in the answers for them. They help. They make sure their students have what they need to solve their problems. They point the way when someone is lost. But most of all, they give their students space to learn in. Sometimes that means letting them make mistakes for a while, so that when they see other people making those mistakes, they'll recognize them, and know how they were caused, and how to help them stop. Does that make sense?"

Ayana has posed:
Ayana's ears droop down a little as she listens, and she lowers her gaze back down to study his hand in hers. "But I've made these mistakes before," she notes sadly. "I nearly killed Ikiko this way, once. She's so stupid; she just lets me drain her until she falls unconscious. I don't ... want to hurt her," she says, looking back up at him again now clearly upset. "And I'm going to. I keep just .. stealing from her. Her home, her life, her energy, her heart. And I don't give her anything back. I don't understand why she lets me do this. I wish she'd just beat me up for being such a jerk. But she won't."

Kunzite has posed:
"You give her your love," he says quietly, and there's a light pressure from his fingertips. "You give her your company. You give her warmth, and happiness, and joy. You give her the hope for a future that has you in it. These are not small things, Ayana."

Ayana has posed:
Ayana's ears perk back up at that response--expressing surprise and confusion. She squints at him a little, then looks away in uncertainty. She doesn't seem to have any words to give him in reply. Thankfully, she's saved by the arrival of the first round of noddles. Reluctantly, Ayana lets go of his hand so she can pick up one of the bowls and start slurping at her noodles, hardly using her chopsticks in favor of drinking it straight from the bowl.

Kunzite has posed:
Kunzite uses that freed hand to signal the poor soul delivering the order to stay a moment. Just for another order. And yes, he remembers: fish, the same kind he's having, and beef. He does not dispute the server's assumption that one of those is for him. Let the staff keep firm hold on their sanity a little while longer.

"If you're worried about hurting her," he says quietly, "you can try not to do the things that hurt her. You might not succeed. But as long as you're trying your best, in the long run, you're growing stronger."

He pauses for a moment, his other hand curving lightly around his own bowl to keep it marked apart from Ayana's, lest in the onrush of food she confuse which is which. "And no, I don't suggest you think about leaving instead; that would hurt her more deeply, not less." There is no ominous stare afterward, no scowl, nothing that might try to impress that on her. He just reaches for his chopsticks, because the noodles will cool all too soon.

Ayana has posed:
The speed with which the kitsune consumes her food is likely unnerving to anyone who watches unprepared. Within only a few moments, her first bowl is empty, and she's on to the second. She doesn't slow down until she reaches the third, and even then it's only because this bowl is the tofu, and she wants to savor it (a little).

Once all three bowls are empty, Ayana stacks them up and licks her face clean, then looks up to Kunzite again before turning her head away. "No fair reading my mind," she mumbles quietly, then hunches her shoulders. "And anyways, it's not really running away. But if I weren't a real girl--if I were just a fox--I wouldn't have these powers, and I couldn't hurt anyone. We're not supposed to become people until we've been a fox fifty years. I'm a long way from that. I keep thinking Inari-kami made a mistake letting me be a girl so early."

Kunzite has posed:
A little.

Kunzite finishes his current mouthful of noodles, far behind her, then says, "I can't read your mind, Ayana. But we're alike enough in some ways that I can remember the mistakes I made, and warn you about them." An instant's pause before he amends, "Mistakes I'm still making, sometimes. None of us learn all at once."

One fingertip presses harder against the angle of the chopsticks for a moment. Not hard enough to fracture the wood, but hard enough to imprint it on skin.

"Do you know," he says quietly, "what would have happened if you hadn't become a girl again so early?"

Ayana has posed:
Ayana reaches up with both hands to grasp the back of her neck, leaning forward on her elbows while she waits for the next round. "Ikiko would have kept me as her pet," Ayana replies quietly. "I would never fully remember what I was, or who she was, and we wouldn't be girlfriends. And I guess Fate-chan maybe wouldn't have been saved by me. But someone would have saved her."

Kunzite has posed:
"From my own, more selfish point of view," Kunzite says, "I would still be enslaved. Or dead and also still enslaved. So would my family." He pushes his bowl a couple of inches toward her, wordless offering to tide her through the eternal few minutes till her next arrives. Better than half the noodles remain, and most of the fish. "I don't know how far it would have gone. Maybe someone else would have found a way to stop the thing that held me. Maybe it would only have taken Tokyo, and Ikiko and your Fate with the city. Maybe it would have kept going. Certainly it wanted to."

He closes his eyes for a moment; opens them again to look at her, steady and gray. "You didn't do everything to stop it. But you, and the power Inari-kami gave you, bought me a few minutes of freedom at a crucial time. Bought one of my brothers his freedom. Put the right people in the right place, with the right tools. So your patron made a good choice for the world, not a mistake. Made a good choice for Ikiko, and for your Fate, and for your friends, and for my brother. I think you may find that in the long run, your patron even made a good choice for you."

Ayana has posed:
"Kon?" Ayana vocalizes her surprise. Her ears perk up and she leans back, staring at the white-haired man in surprise. She blinks at him once, twice, then shakes her head again. "Me? But I didn't do anything. I failed to protect anyone at the school. You still kidnapped her. And then you almost killed the whole world. I didn't ... I don't think I did anything for your brothers. I don't even know who they are, except Mamoru-baka. I think you are mistaken, Saito-senpai. I am not so great as all of that."

Kunzite has posed:
"You protected Yellow," Kunzite says quietly. "She lived. She wouldn't have, if you hadn't been there. You protected Osaka-san; Melanite kidnapped her, but because of what you did, people were able to rescue her. You struck me with that light; you couldn't clear my mind, but you put a crack in the spell confusing my memories, and someone else was able to use that crack, to lever it open for a little while. Not long. But long enough to tell others about the kidnapping, long enough to help my brother Nephrite get free, long enough to put the right tools in the hands of the right people. You didn't bring in the harvest, Ayana, that's true. But no-one brings in a harvest unless someone plants the seeds. And you did that. That moment of light, and the memories you reminded me of -- those made all the difference in the world."

Ayana has posed:
The words keep coming out of his mouth, and Ayana just stares in confusion. All of these are things she's hardly even heard of, let alone ever believed she had influence over. Sitting back, she watches uncertainly. The words all make sense, but the concepts behind them seem to be elluding the fox.

"Twilight Inspiration."

Creation in the void; a place of pure unbridaled chaos and power. Planting the seed is a good analogy for what that place is supposed to do. But for Ayana, it's only ever been the only place she has ever felt in control.

"I didn't know," she admits softly as she studies him anew. "I thought ... when you attacked the city, I thought you were dead. That the heroes who froze the tidal wave had killed you. I thought that I would never see you again. That I had failed to save you. And then when you were back ... I thought it was amazing, but I was sad that it couldn't have been me who helped you, like you helped me."

Ayana whimpers just a little, then lowers her eyes towards the bare table. "I am glad that, while I was influenced by the orange, I did some good for you, and for Fate-chan. And I want to do more things like that. But ... why?" she asks, looking up to him. "It doesn't make sense to want those things. Only those who are strong enough to survive, should. It doesn't make sense."

Kunzite has posed:
"You did help me," Kunzite says, and his voice is quiet, but steady. His eyes are level, watching her; the small shifts of muscles, body and face and angle of head, all the unconscious things humans do, are absolutely in consonance with his words. "Nothing that they tried afterward would have done a thing, without what you did. Even when they took me down, when they got me out of that mockery of a body -- Yellow was the one who made certain that what they did would work. And without you, she wouldn't have been there."

Her later words draw something from him she might not have expected: almost a smile. Not quite, but the hints of it, especially around those eyes. "Ayana," he says gently. "No-one is strong enough to survive on their own. Not in the long run. Everyone, every being that has ever existed, has weak points. Has moments when they are tired, or hurt, or things they are not as skilled in. In the long run, we survive by working together. By doing things for each other. By caring about each other. So wanting to do that ... makes all the sense there is in anything."

Ayana has posed:
"Hoshi?" Ayana asks curiously. But that's probably a story for another time. She sits back, making room for more food to be delievered, whenever it comes, then tilts her head a little at Kunzite.

For a moment, Ayana opens her mouth as if she's going to say something else. Whatever it is, though, is lost, and she looks back down at the table in silence. No words come to reply to Kunzite, but the way her ears are drooped to either side, it's clear she's a little disheartened--or perhaps just confused. Those ears perk up quickly, though, when a bowl is slid in front of her. She looks up at him briefly, then grabs her chopsticks and starts devouring the next course quickly.

Kunzite has posed:
Food comes almost in the moment that Ayana sits back. It's been ready. It's just that no server wanted to interrupt the conversation while that body language was associated with it.

Ayana receives her own fish, and beef, and Kunzite reclaims the bowl he offered. "You should probably start another three," he says gravely aside to the server. "Ayana, is there anything you want in particular? If not, we can let them choose at random." Which might be fun.

It's after the staff has fled again that he regards her a moment longer; he doesn't interrupt the flood of noodles and meat and broth, even if she's actually decided to use utensils this time. So it's not between bowls, but between rounds, that he agrees, "Hoshi. If you want to hear, I'll tell you, but your ears were saying there was something else you needed, first. What did I say that you had trouble with?"

Ayana has posed:
Ayana devours the food with just as much speed and gusto as the first round. Fish and beef both simply vanish into her seemingly endless gullet. When she's done them, the kitsune licks her lips thoroughly clean, then sits back, refreshed, to look at Kunzite as if she'd forgotten the conversation they were having.

But he hasn't, and her eyes quickly fall again to the table. "Foxes don't work with others very well," she notes quietly. "From a very young age we're expected to begin hunting for ourselves. As adults, we only take what others leave behind, and hope they don't mind, unless we get lucky enough to get something for ourselves. We're not ... good at it," she explains. "Caring about others; doing things for each other. It's not in my nature, Saito-senpai. It feels wrong. I just like it when Ikiko smiles. When you ..." she trails off, then looks back up at him worriedly, before looking away again. "When you pat my head because I did something good. I like those things, even though doing what I have to do to earn them feels wrong."

Kunzite has posed:
Whereupon Saito-senpai reaches across the table, unconcerned, to scratch behind Ayana's ear for a moment. There's a little crook of a smile that goes with it.

"There are two parts of that you're overlooking," Kunzite says, as he draws his hand back again. "One is that, while many foxes are alone, many more stay in groups as adults. With their parents, for a while, or with their mates. They stay with their families and help take care of them; or they make families for themselves, and help take care of that. That same tendency is in your nature, somewhere, too.

"The second is that, once you have free will, you have some control of your nature. You can choose to do different things; you have been choosing that. You can also choose to learn to be someone a little different. The process isn't necessarily comfortable, or easy. But if you make the right choices, it's worthwhile. Because it's good when Ikiko smiles. Because it's good to watch her smile and know you don't have to be afraid. Because it's better still to watch her smile and know that she'll keep smiling; that you have a family, and that family will be with you, and help you take care of the important things."

Ayana has posed:
It's so unfair, that little scritch behind the ear. Ayana's eyes close instinctively--not out of fear but joy. Her head tilts towards the scritch, her ear folds over sedately, and her tails--oh how they wiggle and squirm, trapped between her and the back of the chair. Explain that to the poor, horrified staff.

Ayana's face is a little flush when the petting stops and is replaced by words once again. She's still in bliss. Nevertheless, the words aren't missed. Slowly, Ayana opens her eyes again to peer at Kunzite, then shrugs just faintly. "I guess," she says. "But ... I don't know if changing my nature is worth dealing with the bad kids at school. They're so mean to me. They call me weird, and pick on me. I think they know I'm not human. I think ... they hate me because of it."

Kunzite has posed:
(The poor, horrified staff is more likely to be Not Seeing, and therefore somewhat less horrified. Humans are good at that.)

Kunzite does not take finishing the noodles as a cue to finish the broth as well, and buy himself a few more moments of time. He just regards Ayana directly for those moments, instead.

"They don't have to know you're not human, to do that kind of thing," he says quietly. "When I was growing up, people did the same kind of thing to me. Some of them were scared of me. Some of them thought I was a threat. Some of them were scared of the people who were already picking on me, and thought that if they sided with them, those people wouldn't hurt them. Some of them were empty and alone, and just looking for something that made them not feel lonely for a while.

"I don't have any magic solution to offer you. I'm still dealing with that; I'm careful about what I do in public, because some of my household is still in school, and I don't want to cause them the same problems. But it's worth dealing with that, for me, to see the people I care about smile more often. And to make sure that they can get the things that are important to them."

He sets the chopsticks down, and runs fingers through his own hair. "There are ways to make it less bad, sometimes. Sometimes ways to turn it around, to make some of the people your friends instead. But that depends on what's causing it in the first place."

Ayana has posed:
"It's because I'm stupid," Ayana says with a sigh. "Or because I eat so fast. Or so much. Or because I'm always hungry. Or because Sora-chan hates me. Or because I'm always sniffing things or run fast, or ... I don't know. They seem to find new excuses to hate me all the time."

Kunzite has posed:
Kunzite's silent for another moment; then he says, "I'm not good at understanding that kind of thing, either. Not well enough to deal with it. I have a friend who is. Would you like me to ask him if he'd look into it? I don't know if he can; he's still in school, too, and he has an important job to do there. But I can ask."

Ayana has posed:
Ayana squints just a little as she studies Kunzite, thoughtfully. "Is it Mamoru-baka?" she asks, worriedly. "Because he's part of why I get picked on. I don't want his help."

Kunzite has posed:
The corner of Kunzite's mouth twitches, just for a moment. "No," he says. "It's not Mamoru. He calls himself Izumi Inoba; he's prettier than Mamoru, and smaller, so he needs to be able to handle himself around people who pick on him for being pretty. Sometimes he's sweeter than Mamoru is. Sometimes he's meaner."

Ayana has posed:
Ayana's ears perk up just a little at the idea, and she considers Kunzite thoughtfully. "Only if I can have another bowl of tofu, and another of fish," she says, flashing a little fang in hopeful amusement. But seriously, she adds, "I'd like to meet someone who's meaner than Mamoru, but also sweeter. Especially if they'll be nice to me. But ... if it's a stinky boy can they really give me good advice?" Pause. "Err. Sorry. You're not stinky."

Kunzite has posed:
"I can't promise that he'll be nice to you," Kunzite says gravely. "It depends on how you act to him." And how much of a troll Zoisite's feeling like that day. There is never a guarantee on introducing two tricksters. "I can promise you --"

There's the server with the next round, three chosen at random from the menu. So of course neither of them are the two desired. That's other people's luck. Egg, and pork, and something he can't identify on sight but that smells spicy. "-- another bowl of tofu, and another of fish," he finishes, turning his head to the server to make the statement do double duty as a request.

At the server's departure, he considers the additional question. "Not all boys are stinky, yes," he says. "And if he doesn't have good advice, or if you don't think his advice will work, you don't have to take it."

There are certain other aspects to that question that he just ... leaves aside, for right now, because he's not at all sure that trying to explain them to a slightly overwhelmed fox who may or may not be in her right mind will be productive.

Ayana has posed:
In truth, Ayana had forgotten the random three more bowls that Kunzite ordered her. Her eyes widen when they appear, and she eyes the retreating server worriedly. Five more bowls? That's literally twice what she's eaten already, and she is starting to feel a little full. With a squint, she considers the food before her, then decides that this is--obviously--a challenge!

"How should I act to him?" Ayana asks as she eyes the three bowls thoughtfully. Spicy first, in case she needs the egg bowl to temper it. Down it goes, hastily disappearing into the black hole of her stomach.

Kunzite has posed:
"Don't worry about it too much," Kunzite says. There might, perhaps, be an amused note hidden somewhere in his tone. It applies to both, really, given that worried look. "If it would make you uncomfortable to eat all of it, then I'll keep that promise later; we can always come back another time."

(Of course he can parse that expression. He's taken care of small children, and encountered before the possibility that there might never be another cake again in the world.)

"Don't worry too much about how to behave, either. Trying not to insult him would be a good idea. But he'd notice if you were putting on an act for him. I'll warn him about what you call Mamoru and why, so at least he won't be surprised."

Ayana has posed:
Ayana's ears perk up a little, and she's on to the egg, but here she pauses--actually pauses with food on the table--to peer at Kunzite worriedly. There's a moment where her nose twitches in uncertainly before she lifts the bowl to eat again. Except before it reaches her lips, she pauses again to finally ask, "Do you want me to stop calling him that?"

Kunzite has posed:
... two pauses. That is impressive.

"I call him things like that myself, sometimes," Kunzite says. "So does Izumi. But we're family; that's different. All he needs to know is that it doesn't mean he needs to protect Mamoru from you."

Ayana has posed:
"Oh," Ayana says quietly, then does go on to down the egg noodle bowl in mere seconds. The fact that she doesn't immediately go for the pork thereafter is a sign of her growing unease with the task of eating all of this food. But she doesn't say anything about it. Instead, she merely licks her lips clean, then leans forward to study the pork bowl. "It's just ... if he hadn't done that to me, I don't think they'd pick on me so much. Everyone thought I was special after he danced with me the first time. But a lot of them decided he was just doing it to be nice to me. If he'd done it a second time ... if he hadn't stood me up ... maybe they would respect me."

Kunzite has posed:
"He couldn't do that then," Kunzite says quietly. "He had an emergency he was dealing with. And he couldn't do that the next time, because he'd been kidnapped." -- which may be the first time Ayana's heard that piece of information. "And since he came back, his first priority has been dealing with the people he rescued. Which means, I think, that we owe you help with this. It's not something we did ourselves. But if we hadn't been taken in the first place, if Mamoru hadn't had to spend time dealing with what we were used for and dealing with getting us free, he'd have had the time to help with you."

He pauses, just for a moment. "And if they think he's just doing it to be nice to you -- Izumi spending some time talking to you where they can see it might help by itself. He goes to school with Mamoru. People know they're friends."

Ayana has posed:
Ayana's face screws up in uncertainty. "How is dancing with the pretty blonde-haired girl an emergency?" she asks unhappily. Then she shakes her head. "You don't owe me anything. He maybe owes me an apology, but I don't even want it. He's just another stinky boy. I don't go to dances, now, unless Ikiko goes with me. I don't know why I thought it would be good to go then, except Takashi-onii-san said I should."

Kunzite has posed:
"Because he loves the pretty blonde-haired girl," Kunzite says. "And because someone gave her something that made her drunk -- made her not really in control of her actions. So he had to take care of her. And there was also someone there who he knew was a friend of his, but who was under the control of something evil." And another one he didn't know about. "So he was worrying about both of them, and trying to keep the blonde-haired girl safe, and trying to keep you safe from both of them. It was more complicated than it looked. Dances usually are. They're much easier, if you go with someone you care about."

And that complication is probably, for many reasons, why Takashi wanted her to go. Both so that she could learn, and so that she would be a safe fallback for him if things went poorly.

He doesn't speculate about that out loud. He only says, "If you're getting full, you can have the fish and the tofu sometime later, if you'd like. Sometime when you're hungry again."

Ayana has posed:
Ayana almost has the decency to look apologetic when Kunzite explains the story. It actually is a pretty good reason, which means she's probably been a jerk. Woops. Luckily, she's saved from dwelling on that too long by being reminded of her challenge! "What?! No, I'm not full!" she protests, a bit too loudly, then grabs the pork bowl and shovels it into her mouth far too quickly.

Kunzite has posed:
Clearly, the rest of this day is going to go very well indeed.

(One may expect Ikiko to be receiving a letter of apology and a promise to replace affected clothing and textiles.)