The most infuriating thing about Ene were her smug smiles, her taunting peals of laughter. She was eternally superior, and no matter what Shintaro did, she always seemed to have the upper hand. Regardless of anything else, it was for that reason that he appreciated Konoha, specifically the other boy's ability to throw the little cyber-being off balance.
He had no idea what fascinated Konoha so about Ene either. Shintaro was glad for the reprieve, but Konoha seemed barely to register his surroundings sometimes, sitting quietly in the corner until someone went over to make sure he was still breathing. Still, even when he seemed to be absent as ever, it was never long before he found Shintaro and started pawing curiously at his jacket pockets, scaring the hell out of him until Shintaro figured out what he wanted and fished out his phone, handing it over to the strange boy.
It'd be wrong to say he'd smile, then, but there was definitely a deepening at the corners of his mouth, a light breath drawn in, like alien mannerisms they had yet to decode. It wouldn't surprise any of them to to find out Konoha was an alien. He was certainly strange enough.
Once he had Shintaro's phone, though, it was impossible to get it back. Shintaro flipped idly through a magazine, snorting at some rumor of Momo's involvement with some boyband singer, and tried to ignore Ene's screeching from the little device.
"Seriously?" she shrieked, and Konoha blinked back at the screen, not phased at all from the noise.
"Show me okonomiyaki, thank you," he requested again, in the same dull voice as before.
"I've been looking up food for you for two hours," Ene whined, but from the way Konoha's eyes lit up and he leaned closer to the screen, it was clear she'd fulfilled his request. "I'm low on battery. I feel faint."
"D'you think Danchou would make this?" he asked her quietly, ignoring her complaints, and Ene was silent for a few minutes, leading Shintaro worry that she'd run out of power after all.
"I dunno, why don't you ask her instead of bugging me?" she replied back, testy as ever. Shintaro didn't know why she defaulted to such a harsh tone with Konoha, but it hardly seemed to phase him. He didn't even respond, tilting his head to one side and waiting for Ene to answer him properly. Shintaro decided he'd had enough of her shrill yelling.
"Hey, Konoha," he said, trying to imitate the firm voice Kido used on the strange boy that always seemed to work so well. Sure enough, Konoha's head snapped up to regard him with an unreadable expression. Well, at least Shintaro knew he was listening. "Time for a nap. Go to sleep." He wasn't sure it'd work, but it was worth a try.
For several seconds Konoha stared back at him, and Shintaro almost sighed and gave up. With a little nod, though, Konoha's eyes rolled back into his head, and he settled back into the backrest of the couch went still. The weird display was unsettling enough that Shintaro was tempted to leave without his phone, but he hadn't been able to check the internet in hours, so he attempted to pry it from Konoha's hands.
"What the hell-"
Konoha's grip on the phone was iron-tight, and Shintaro couldn't even budge it. He tried to slip it up or down out of his grasp, but it was no good.
"Hey! Hey, Master." Ene hadn't been on the screen at first, and he wondered if she was hiding, but she twirled into being at the corner of the screen and drifted closer, her lips pressed tight together. "You're so weak, I don't think you'd be able to do it. Just leave me here."
"Weren't you the one complaining about him?" Shintaro grunted, leaning his entire weight against the phone with no luck. Konoha didn't even react.
"I don't mind when he's not being so stupid," Ene huffed, and Shintaro had to stop and look at her properly, at her puffed up cheeks and her crossed arms as she looked over his shoulder at Konoha, fast asleep. For a second, Shintaro felt like the strange intruder, not Konoha. But that was ridiculous.
"Fine, but don't come whining to me," Shintaro replied with a sigh, throwing his hands up. Maybe one of the others had a phone he could borrow.
Not giving Ene time to protest- he didn't really think he could get the phone back no matter what he tried- he left the room, baffled and confused at what was going on.