It pained the samurai a bit to drag up her long forgotten past, but had it not been for those often tragic and woeful events ever taking place in Asuka's lifetime, then perhaps there would have never been a change from a fearsome warrior to a bumbling and humble wanderer. She smiled at the Princess and the return of happiness to her once downtrodden and sorrowful visage, seeing the young girl's lips curl into an equally jovial smile and an optimistic flick of her fluffy tail and her ears. It was quite humorous actually, in a kind of adorable sense, especially how Hanami spoke of Mizuki being their...[i]pet fox spirit[/i]. Asuka was about to answer the young Hime-dono, but paused when she heard the innocent laughter of children, her eyes and ears following the wonderful and sweet sound to the source. Her eyes then fell upon the young shrine maiden Hanami, the children of the village playing with her soft, dark locks of hair and placing atop her head a crown woven of cherry blossoms, all while they giggled. It brought yet another smile to the ronin, to see the miko act so...[i]motherly[/i].

Finally, after the miko bid her farewell to the children, Asuka turned back to the Princess....only for her stomach to begin growling. [i]Oro? That's not good, certainly not at all...[/i] How long has it been since she ate? Five days? Six days? In honesty, far too long had Asuka gone without any nourishment whatsoever. It was by Amaterasu's grace she didn't keel over already, especially when most of her energy was spent fighting demon puppets and a psychotic fiend. There had to be at least some food around here. These villages, they always had a vendor or two. Then...it caught her by the nostrils, that ever delectable and mouth-watering scent...lulling her into a ravenous frenzy. [i]Is it? Could it really be? It is!![/i] That familiar and delicious flavor, she could feel it upon her tongue, and then, she heard the owner of the stand say that wonderful word, [b]"Step right up, folks! Hammamatsu's specialty right here! Grilled unagi!"[/b] Already wasting no time, Asuka took her seat at the stand, a joyful and hungry grin across her beaming face. [b]"Ah a customer already! What'll it be, my good lady samurai/"[/b]

"I'll have twelve orders please, with rice, that I will!" T-twelve orders?! Wow was she hungry! The old man behind the grill was quite astounded as well with what Asuka so gladly said to him. [b]"Coming right up, samurai-san!"[/b] He hooted gleefully and went to work. In a matter of seconds, there were twelve bowls of delicious grilled eel before Asuka, and then....she went to work devouring every single one of them. "Delicious!" She proclaimed happily, shoving in her mouth more and more tasty morsels of eel and rice with a sweet and tangy sauce. This was truly the best meal she's had during her long journeys wandering all over Japan. However.... [b]"Ahaha! I'm glad you're enjoying it, samurai-san! Now....about paying for the meal?"[/b] Sure. That wouldn't seem to bad of a thing to do this moment, but when Asuka reached for where she thought her coinpurse had been secured to her obi....nothing touched her hand. Now that cheerful warmth in her stomach was slowly decaying into a knotted pain of worry. [i]Uh-oh....[/i] "Ehehehe...I-I'm sorry to say this, honorable eel-chef, that I am indeed, but....I seem to have no money." Ooh...this was bad! Really bad! The old man, he looked like a vein would pop from his shiny, bald head any second, his thick eyebrows crinkling over with a burning frustration, but...immediately he returned to that cheerful and rather [i]Genki[/i] demeanor, [b]"Well well...that's too bad, but at least that sword of yours could pay for the meal I bet."[/b]

"ORO?!! Y-you mean you want my s-sword?!" Asuka instantly shot upwards from the stand, a look of shock and indeed worry upon her dilated eyes, and not to mention beads of sweat rolling down her reddening face. "B-but but...I can't just part with my sword, honorable eel-chef, indeed I cannot!" She knew what he was asking. He wanted to hock the valuable blade to cover the feast Asuka partook of, but there was no way...just no damn way a warrior could ever part without her weapon. It was a part of a samurai, as much as the armor they donned for battle or their own beating heart in their chest. [b]"Well then..."[/b] The vendor retorted, now a bit of his anger beginning to betray his feigned kindness and excitement. [b]"It's either that or I have the other men with nice swords come to collect your head for thievery! So what's it gonna be, ya little street urchin!"[/b] S-street urchin! Why the nerve! But Asuka refrained from any violent retaliation to this insult. Really how could she attack when she was standing there...stuttering like a nervous buffoon. [i]Oro....I have a bad feeling about this, that I certainly do![/i]