[center][h1][color=Gold]Akio Tendou[/color][/h1][/center]

Akio joined the small clown in her laughter at the results of their little diversions, though she did feel somewhat bad about tricking them like that. It was still funny though, and Aoi's next comment only served to add to the generally hilarity of the situation, though it did bring a slight look of confusion to the Tendou girl's face. [i]Did she say . . . bananas?[/i] Akio took a moment to discreetly smell herself, but she couldn't detect a whiff of the supposed scent. After some more thought, she simply shrugged and decided to just roll with it. It wasn't as if bananas tasted bad or anything, so she guessed it was a compliment. It was to tell with Aoi sometime, as she could be an open book in one second, but a completely indecipherable enigma the next. Guess it was just part of her charm.

As they walked to the park comfortably hand in hand, something that Akio noticed but said nothing about, Aoi suddenly asked her about where she lived. It was a seemingly out of the blue question, but one that Akio was fine with answering, if not necessarily excited to talk about.

"Just some crappy one room apartment in down in the Danzou, as it was the only place I could afford on a benin salary and still manage to get enough for food and bills, though I also had to take another part time job on top of it as well just to make ends meet. It was tough, but i made it through all right. I hardly spend anytime in it anymore to be honest, it's more comfortable and safer to sleep in the nearby forest or at the training grounds than in that shit-hole. I've been saving up money since my promotion now that I'm raking in some extra cash so that I can get a better place, maybe somewhere in the Minato district or something." Akio said in a neutral tone, not too perturbed by her living conditions but definitely determined to move out when she could.

Akio listened intently to Aoi talk about her home, able to sympathize with her on the part about being alone, though she had only had one person like what Aoi was describing. She couldn't imagine such a startling transition from being with a bunch of people you love to being with no one. "Why did you leave then, why didn't you stay with the circus? It seemed like you really loved it there. . . oh, and I guess I like strawberry."

[@Savato]