For the most part Neji spent the evening to himself; he didn't leave his room at all though he answered the door when someone came to ask why he didn't attend dinner. The next morning he was tempted to just not attend practice. He didn't even want to see Asuka. He didn't want to see her lips sweep up into that sweet smile of hers, he didn't want to watch her cheeks turn a light shade of pink the harder she laughed with Lee, he didn't want to see her subtle glare in his direction, and he didn't really feel like glaring at her. It was too much work because he couldn't possibly glare the amount he despised her at the moment.
Just thinking about her currently left his blood boiling. He gave in though, and slowly got ready for the day. He made his normal pit-stop in the kitchen for some breakfast and he ate in silence as usual; the women who always cooked seemed more at ease today than usual. Normally she avoided even looking at him, scurrying away to do something else when their eyes met and nervously answering his questions, and requests. This morning she seemed a bit more cheerful and at ease at least until her name was said from the door of the kitchen.
"Morning Shizuka-chan," said a casual but cheerful voice. Neji instantly cringed. Satoshi.
The young cook seemed to jump and her shoulders stayed tense, she stumbled over her words for a moment before finally bowing slightly. "G-Good morning!"
Satoshi walked up beside Neji now, his hands in his pockets and bright smile on his face. "I've told you before haven't I? There's no need to be so formal around me." He sat next to Neji at the small breakfast bar and Neji didn't bother to look up from his food.
Shizuka gave a nervous half smile and nodded. She didn't bother to say anything else before serving him something to eat. He thanked her with a generous smile and she only half returned it before going back to her work. Neji idly wondered if Asuka coming in here with him is what made her more comfortable because she was now back to her usual tense mannerisms.
That was normal with Satoshi though. No one really knew how to act around him. Technically speaking he was a part of the Head Family, but seeing as he didn't grow up in the Hyuuga house hold and made it clear he desired no part in family politics he was more in line with the branch family. Despite this the rest of the family was always afraid of treating him as anything less than Hiashi's son, and even if they hated him they walked on egg shells around him. Satoshi was for the most part unbothered by this. Being Hiashi's illegitimate son from a previous attempt to marry outside of the family seemed to not even phase him. He even willingly talked of his mother that died in child birth and making the request to her mother that Hiashi not be told if the child survived. She was very understanding of his namesake and so until Satoshi's grandmother's death he was kept a secret to avoid turmoil in the Hyuuga household. When he arrived he brought nothing but a letter from both his mother and his grandmother and a laid back smile. He seemingly held no ill will but simply requested a place to stay. He quickly became a shinobi and it was an unspoken truth that he could no longer leave for fear of someone getting a hold of the Hyuuga Kekkei Genkai.
However, he made no attempts to follow the guidelines of the two families, he had no concept of the separation between the head and branch families, and he actually went so far to insult it once in a while when he couldn't avoid knowing it was there. That was probably why he had taken an interest in Asuka who seemed to do the exact same thing.
"That teammate of yours is rather cute." Satoshi suddenly pointed out, the same casual smile playing on his lips.
"I didn't know you were interested in young boys," Neji quickly responded in an uninterested tone.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Shizuka's eyes get as big as saucers, glancing back at Neji with a look of disbelief. He paid no mind and Satoshi laughed. Neji's jaw tensed slightly in annoyance to the way Satoshi could take everything so easily. Hadn't he just insulted him? Satoshi continued without even bothering to comment.
"I saw her curls before I saw her. She moves fast for such a little thing." He chuckled as he spoke and for a while there was silence and chewing. "Is she your girlfriend?" Satoshi asked nonchalantly.
Neji slammed his tea down onto the table. "No." He said sharply before getting up to leave without another word.
Satoshi watched him leave with a small creeping smile and he chuckled softly once Neji was gone. "A bit touchy, isn't he?"
Shizuka gave a half nervous smile in response, watching the door Neji left from as though he might walk back in.
"That girl will be good for him…" he said as he picked his own cup of tea up. "Sometimes, we need someone else to help loosen us up a little…" He chuckled yet again and a dangerous smirk snuck onto his lips. Shizuka's face began to flush slightly, "Don't you agree, Shizuka?"
Asuka slumped to the ground as her and Lee finished practice. Her heart raced in her chest and a few loose curls had tumbled into her face as she tried to catch her breath.
As usual Lee seemed to be hardly out of breath as he spoke, "Asuka-chan? Can I ask you a question?"
Asuka glanced up for a moment, a heavy sigh leaving her lips as she pushed her hair out of her eyes. "Of course," she replied.
He sat across from her cross legged and got comfortable before looking her directly in the eyes with an unusually serious face. "When you were fighting with Ayame, you said some things about your name that I didn't understand. Then yesterday you… at Neji's house I mean…" he struggled for a moment and Asuka smiled.
"You want to know what my family name means?"
Lee nodded and Asuka sighed again, this time from the emotions tied to her name verses physical exhaustion.
"Do you know what a geisha is?" She asked finally.
Lee tilted his head to the side curiously but nodded all the same and she was quiet for a moment as she leaned back on her hands.
"Geisha's aren't really the same today as they were before, but they were a lot more… conservative, at one time. You basically paid to just spend time with them, not to… well, you know…" she blushed a little and refused to look at Lee. "They were often invited to big parties and political events to help liven things up or to keep things docile. They work the crowd, keep everyone happy, and the Ehime's were at one point all geisha's or hosts. The only thing that was different about them was that they were also ninjas and assassins. Over the years our clan has gotten pretty small but we still hold the same purpose in Kohona. We attend to missions involving Lords and important clans and our job is to not only fulfill the mission but to do it with a pleasant smile."
"Why did you say everything you do is being watched?" Lee asked almost immediately.
Asuka frowned but still didn't look at him, "Ehime's are… looked down upon… and my father's marriage combined with some of my behavior as a child has made me undesirable as a host." She spoke dryly her body slightly tense. Behavior was a mild way of stating it. "Basically I am supposed to be more than a ninja but someone who is always friendly and approachable. An Ehime without a smile isn't worth their name."
As she spoke a frown played on her lips and she leaned forward quickly hiding her face with her soft brown curls. She closed her eyes for a moment, repeating the phrase in her mind and remembering when it was said to her.
The man's sleazy smirk was still imprinted in her mind and she could almost feel his long smooth fingers roughly pulling on her chin as he spoke, "Perk up, after all, an Ehime without a smile isn't worth their name…" He had smelled heavily of Tabaco and sweet oil and her hands dug into the grass at the memory. It was the first and last time Asuka had ever screamed though every time she thought about it she wanted to.
"Asuka-chan…?" Lee said her name quietly, a concerned tone coloring his voice.
A smile lit up her face almost immediately and she looked up at him with practiced ease. "Does that answer your question?"
Lee watched her for a moment before nodding. Asuka sighed heavily after a moment and pulled herself to her feet. "I don't think Neji will want to eat with us today, so we shouldn't bother to wait for him. Why don't we go back to my place for lunch?" Her smile was light as she could make it. Neji hadn't so much as looked at her that morning and she had tried not to think about how furious it made her. It had been an internal struggle not to call him stupid again.
Lee smiled right back at her and bounced to his feet without any trouble.