The Truth about Liars
"What do you mean by that?" A man asked.
"Just what I said, everything I say is a lie." Jin proclaimed
"No it isn't Jin." A little girl squealed.
"Really, why not?" Jin asked
Everyone seemed confused except of course Jin. Sora screeched and started preening his feathers.
"This is another riddle isn't it?" The man beside Soujiro smiled at Jin and she just nodded.
"I don't understand." Soujiro asked the man beside him.
"The object of this riddle is to tell weather she's really lying or not." The man smiled.
"How are you supposed to tell?" Soujiro was curious.
"By her statement I suppose." The man shrugged.
: How are you supposed to tell weather she's lying or not with only the statement that everything she says is a lie?: Soujiro wondered.
"The riddle was meant for you, you know." The man next to him said.
Soujiro blinked. So when he figured it out he would be worthy of the answer. But how would he figure it out? Ask her question's he already knew the answer to? Maybe just wait for her to blurt out a truth. Like 4&4 is 8 or something.
"How can we tell?" asked a woman.
Jin just shrugged. Then she said, "He's smiling." And pointed towards Soujiro.
"That's true!" Shouted a woman.
Jin pushed up her hat and walked over to Soujiro, stuck her face in his and scrutinized him carefully. Then she turned around and lifted a delicately arched eyebrow at the woman.
"Then why does the smile on his face not match his eyes. Can one be truly smiling if their eyes show different?" Jin asked. Then continued, "That being said am I a liar for saying otherwise? Or is it the truth that a smile is only placed on your lips and not on your face?"
Soujiro was mind boggled. How did she know he wasn't...well...happy? Was it some sort of riddler magic trick? Did she know what he was thinking and was she just playing with him as she did the towns people. Was he just another face to puzzle? And most importantly is she a liar?!
:kami-sama this woman is confusing:
Just then the bird, Sora, screeched a high pitched cry. Jin gave him a sour face and asked, "What do you mean Ahou's don't lie?" All the children giggled at this. The bird then started pecking his owner on the head.
"Itaa! Itaa! Itaa!" Jin whimpered.
Soujiro found this incredibly amusing as did some of the older people around him. Jin then chased the bird around in a circle calling him 'feather duster' quite a few times of which Sora objected to with another high pitched shriek.
Still this didn't get Jin's riddle out of his mind. Was she telling the truth or was she lying. Just then an older wise man came up and shouted, "You are neither lying nor are you telling the truth Riddler!"
"Really? Enlighten me philosopher." Jin sneered.
Soujiro didn't need to be told that there was a tension between the two. The philosopher must have known the answer to the riddle because he had a smug smirk on his face. One that matched his haughty light brown eyes.
"The answer is so simple that when I first heard this riddle I didn't understand it. But my master knew the answer and he told it to me. The answer is this: If you say every thing you say is a lie then if everything you say truly is a lie, then the statement you made at the beginning would have to be true. So to make the statement that you are a liar a lie you'd have to tell the truth so the fact is we can't tell if your lying or not. I also know the moral if you'd like that."
"I would."
"The moral is that you can never tell when someone is telling a lie or not."
"That, my friend, would be a lie." Jin laughed. The philosopher blinked puzzled.
"Yes it is." He snorted.
"Iie. The moral is if there are two facts that contradict themselves then they aren't facts they're just opinions." Jin smiled. The philosopher thought about this for a second then he added, "But you still can't tell when someone is lying to you."
"Really? If you asked me what color the sky was and I said green would you know I was lying?" Jin giggled. The philosopher turned beat red and looking rather flustered pushed past a few people to leave. Soujiro looked at him go and wondered what he thought of all riddlers. At least now he knew the answer though. Why wasn't he satisfied with just that? Maybe this little woman had all the answers? Then what was his opinion or truth? What on earth was he looking for? Just then something landed on his shoulder.
Soujiro was snapped from his revere and almost screamed in surprise when he saw the flustered looking hawk on his shoulder clutching his collar bone with its talons. It gave Soujiro a once over then with a satisfied 'yes I think he makes a nice perch' look he fluffed out his feathers and shut his eyes with full intention to fall asleep on our little ruroni. Soujiro ara'd at the bird and to afraid to push him off because of his vicious looking talons he stood completely still.
Jin scrambled over to Soujiro and began to apologize for Sora's behavior.
"Gomen nasai...Seta-san." She said.
Soujiro froze. Did she know who he was?
"Um...do I know you?" Soujiro asked.
"Iie.Notreally." Jin's replie was fast. In fact Soujiro hadn't really realized how fast the woman could talk until now.
"Ha...um...then how do you know my name." Soujiro asked in his usually chipper voice.
All of a sudden Jin burst out in tinkling giggles that reminded Soujiro of wind chimes. He rather liked her laugh actually.
"Afraid our name is written on our face?" she smiled. "or perhaps in our eyes. So translucent yet so opaque." She laughed again. Soujiro could do nothing but squirm. Did she know who he was or didn't she? Or was it another riddler thing? "Or maybe..." Jin lifted her hand and it brushed past Soujiro's neck, her touch making him involuntarily shiver. Her hands were as warm and kind as she appeared. But it was over to soon in Soujiro's opinion because she grabbed at the collar of his gi and peeled it back a bit. "on the collar of our gi?"
For the first time in Soujiro's adult life he felt the heat rush to his face. How could he be so stupid not to know that his surname was printed carefully on the collar of his gi? But something also made him blush. Why had she referred to him pleuraly as if she were included to him? Why did she say 'our eyes' and 'our gi' instead of 'your'? Was that just another riddler thing? Did all of them when talking to someone personally say 'we' and 'our' in the place of 'you' or 'your'? Or did this woman just like embarrassing the once Tenken?
"Gomen, once Sora falls asleep he has a death grip on whatever he's holding." Jin scratched the back of her neck. Soujiro blinked out of his thoughts and looked at Jin. He almost jumped out of his skin when he saw she was actually just a girl. One that didn't look any older then 15. And here with all her wisdom he had thought she was older then him.
"How do I get him off?" Soujiro asked now slightly in a panic. Jin clapped her hands in front of Sora but the bird wouldn't wake up.
"Sora you Ahou wake up!!!" She shouted at the bird but he wouldn't wake up. Jin hung her head in defeat. Soujiro noticed that many people were laughing at them. Of course being himself all Soujiro did was smile as Jin tried again and again to wake up the sleeping bird.
"Well it looks like your spending the night with feather brains."
"ARA?" Soujiro didn't want to spend his night with a psychopathic bird.
"When he wakes up he'll find me." She sighed. Soujiro looked at Jins eyes. They were light lime green. Like the lipstick Yumi used to wear. They seemed lively and happy but her tone of voice had been tired. :Strange:. Soujiro also noticed the stave on her back. :A ronin perhaps?:.
The day was soon turning dark and Jin was about to leave when the man that had spoken to Soujiro said, "Sense Sora is stuck on the boy why don't both of you spend the night with me and my family."
"I couldn't do that Toru." Jin said with a blush on her face which could clearly be seen even through the dim lighting as the sun was disappearing behind the hill by the town. The crowd had diffused and were going home or out to dinner.
"Nonsense. Mika loved it when you stayed last time and so does Reiko-chan." The good natured man spoke kindly to Jin.
"I really don't want to cause any trouble." Jin said softly.
"Your no trouble at all."
"Iie. I can just go back to the forest."
"I won't take no for an answer." Toru said defiantly. Jin just sighed then lifted her head and smiled.
"Hai alright." She then started to laugh. "You are one of the only people I give into."
Toru laughed. Then said, "And of course young man you are coming with us. Jin couldn't leave her care taker behind no matter how feathery he looks."
"Ara? Care taker?" Soujiro was confused and cocked his smiling face cutely.
"Hai. Without Sora, Jin couldn't live ne?" Toru smiled as he asked a beat red faced Jin.
"Iie! I'm old enough to take care of myself." Jin growled at Toru.
"Keep telling yourself that." Toru mumbled as he turned around and lead Jin, Soujiro and Sora to his house.
***********************
"JIN!" Shouted a girl about 13 years old.
"Konichi wa Reiko-san." Jin smiled at the younger girl who had just glomped her.
"Oka-san! Jin's here!" Reiko shouted at the top of her lungs even though she didn't really have to. The house was a normal cozy type house that currently had a delicious smell floating from the kitchen. Soujiro, who hadn't had a decent meal in over a month, was almost drooling.
"Oh Jin, honey, it's so nice to see you again." said a sweet looking woman around her late thirties with long brown hair and warm brown eyes.
"Konichi wa Mika-san." Jin bowed politely to the older woman.
"Nani? No hello for me?" Toru pretended to look hurt.
"Of course not dear." Mika smiled as she strode up and gave Toru a small peck on the lips.
"Oh and who's the darling young man?" Mika asked.
"Boku wa Seta Soujiro desu." Soujiro smiled.
Mika raised her eyebrows looking almost surprised. "Cute and polite. Now that's something I haven't heard of." She giggled. Soujiro felt again the uncomfortable heat rush to his face.
"Give us a riddle Jin, onegai!" Reiko giggled.
"Okay, riddle me this. The only son of a husband and wife is sitting in a jail cell. He looks out the window and sees a younger man sitting on a grassy hill. Then he says, "For that mans father is my father's son." So who is the man out on the hill?"
Soujiro blinked in confusion.
"Hmm..." said Mika. She truly looked puzzled.
"Well, I'm hungry. Let's ponder the question over dinner." Toru suggested.
"Ack! You and your stomach." Mika scowled.
"There was an old saying that the only way to get to a man's heart is through his stomach." Jin said with a crooked grin.
"Aa. Then he was a wise man indeed." Toru chuckled.
Dinner was ready and they all sat around the table. Including Soujiro who still had Sora perched on his shoulder snoozing. Soujiro didn't mind as much the fact that the bird was on him, he only minded that he couldn't get the bird to move. As Soujiro was eating he couldn't get the words from the riddle to leave his mind. :For that man's father is my father's son. Wouldn't that make the person sitting on the hill his own self? It couldn't be a brother because he was an only child:. Soujiro pondered as he ate. This wasn't fair. The riddle was ruining his meal.
Suddenly his food disappeared from his chopsticks. He blinked and looked at the bird perched on his shoulder who was currently chomping on something that Soujiro new was a piece of sashimi. Soujiro sighed. Now the bird was ruining his dinner. :Wait a minute...: the bird was awake. Soujiro looked at Sora timidly and said, "Could you move, onegai?". The bird looked a bit irritated but he moved. Now it was perched on Soujiro's head. "Ara? Demo...that's not what I meant." Soujiro said. He may have been the Tenken once but when it came to a creature like Sora, Soujiro was scared half to death. He wasn't an animal person and he didn't know why the bird had taken such a liking to him.
"Sora knows what you meant he just doesn't want to leave you so he's pretending not to understand." Jin said glaring at the bird. The bird screeched which startled Soujiro but he remained perfectly still.
"Take that back!" Shouted Jin as she leapt to her feet.
"Can you really understand the bird." Soujiro asked.
"Hai." Jin muttered as she sat back down.
"Sora if you don't come now I'll make yaki tori out of you." Jin threatened. Sora screeched and flew over to Jin.
"What do you mean?" She asked the bird who screeched again.
"We are both capable of taking care of each other." Then Jin blinked "that didn't come out right." Her face was bright red. The bird let out a wheezy sound that confused Soujiro for a moment until he realized it was the equivalent to the strange hawks laugh.
"Jin is the man on the grassy field himself?" Reiko asked referring back to the riddle.
"Iie." Jin smiled.
"Then who is he?" Soujiro blurted out.
"He's the man's son."
"ARA?"
"What do you mean by that?" A man asked.
"Just what I said, everything I say is a lie." Jin proclaimed
"No it isn't Jin." A little girl squealed.
"Really, why not?" Jin asked
Everyone seemed confused except of course Jin. Sora screeched and started preening his feathers.
"This is another riddle isn't it?" The man beside Soujiro smiled at Jin and she just nodded.
"I don't understand." Soujiro asked the man beside him.
"The object of this riddle is to tell weather she's really lying or not." The man smiled.
"How are you supposed to tell?" Soujiro was curious.
"By her statement I suppose." The man shrugged.
: How are you supposed to tell weather she's lying or not with only the statement that everything she says is a lie?: Soujiro wondered.
"The riddle was meant for you, you know." The man next to him said.
Soujiro blinked. So when he figured it out he would be worthy of the answer. But how would he figure it out? Ask her question's he already knew the answer to? Maybe just wait for her to blurt out a truth. Like 4&4 is 8 or something.
"How can we tell?" asked a woman.
Jin just shrugged. Then she said, "He's smiling." And pointed towards Soujiro.
"That's true!" Shouted a woman.
Jin pushed up her hat and walked over to Soujiro, stuck her face in his and scrutinized him carefully. Then she turned around and lifted a delicately arched eyebrow at the woman.
"Then why does the smile on his face not match his eyes. Can one be truly smiling if their eyes show different?" Jin asked. Then continued, "That being said am I a liar for saying otherwise? Or is it the truth that a smile is only placed on your lips and not on your face?"
Soujiro was mind boggled. How did she know he wasn't...well...happy? Was it some sort of riddler magic trick? Did she know what he was thinking and was she just playing with him as she did the towns people. Was he just another face to puzzle? And most importantly is she a liar?!
:kami-sama this woman is confusing:
Just then the bird, Sora, screeched a high pitched cry. Jin gave him a sour face and asked, "What do you mean Ahou's don't lie?" All the children giggled at this. The bird then started pecking his owner on the head.
"Itaa! Itaa! Itaa!" Jin whimpered.
Soujiro found this incredibly amusing as did some of the older people around him. Jin then chased the bird around in a circle calling him 'feather duster' quite a few times of which Sora objected to with another high pitched shriek.
Still this didn't get Jin's riddle out of his mind. Was she telling the truth or was she lying. Just then an older wise man came up and shouted, "You are neither lying nor are you telling the truth Riddler!"
"Really? Enlighten me philosopher." Jin sneered.
Soujiro didn't need to be told that there was a tension between the two. The philosopher must have known the answer to the riddle because he had a smug smirk on his face. One that matched his haughty light brown eyes.
"The answer is so simple that when I first heard this riddle I didn't understand it. But my master knew the answer and he told it to me. The answer is this: If you say every thing you say is a lie then if everything you say truly is a lie, then the statement you made at the beginning would have to be true. So to make the statement that you are a liar a lie you'd have to tell the truth so the fact is we can't tell if your lying or not. I also know the moral if you'd like that."
"I would."
"The moral is that you can never tell when someone is telling a lie or not."
"That, my friend, would be a lie." Jin laughed. The philosopher blinked puzzled.
"Yes it is." He snorted.
"Iie. The moral is if there are two facts that contradict themselves then they aren't facts they're just opinions." Jin smiled. The philosopher thought about this for a second then he added, "But you still can't tell when someone is lying to you."
"Really? If you asked me what color the sky was and I said green would you know I was lying?" Jin giggled. The philosopher turned beat red and looking rather flustered pushed past a few people to leave. Soujiro looked at him go and wondered what he thought of all riddlers. At least now he knew the answer though. Why wasn't he satisfied with just that? Maybe this little woman had all the answers? Then what was his opinion or truth? What on earth was he looking for? Just then something landed on his shoulder.
Soujiro was snapped from his revere and almost screamed in surprise when he saw the flustered looking hawk on his shoulder clutching his collar bone with its talons. It gave Soujiro a once over then with a satisfied 'yes I think he makes a nice perch' look he fluffed out his feathers and shut his eyes with full intention to fall asleep on our little ruroni. Soujiro ara'd at the bird and to afraid to push him off because of his vicious looking talons he stood completely still.
Jin scrambled over to Soujiro and began to apologize for Sora's behavior.
"Gomen nasai...Seta-san." She said.
Soujiro froze. Did she know who he was?
"Um...do I know you?" Soujiro asked.
"Iie.Notreally." Jin's replie was fast. In fact Soujiro hadn't really realized how fast the woman could talk until now.
"Ha...um...then how do you know my name." Soujiro asked in his usually chipper voice.
All of a sudden Jin burst out in tinkling giggles that reminded Soujiro of wind chimes. He rather liked her laugh actually.
"Afraid our name is written on our face?" she smiled. "or perhaps in our eyes. So translucent yet so opaque." She laughed again. Soujiro could do nothing but squirm. Did she know who he was or didn't she? Or was it another riddler thing? "Or maybe..." Jin lifted her hand and it brushed past Soujiro's neck, her touch making him involuntarily shiver. Her hands were as warm and kind as she appeared. But it was over to soon in Soujiro's opinion because she grabbed at the collar of his gi and peeled it back a bit. "on the collar of our gi?"
For the first time in Soujiro's adult life he felt the heat rush to his face. How could he be so stupid not to know that his surname was printed carefully on the collar of his gi? But something also made him blush. Why had she referred to him pleuraly as if she were included to him? Why did she say 'our eyes' and 'our gi' instead of 'your'? Was that just another riddler thing? Did all of them when talking to someone personally say 'we' and 'our' in the place of 'you' or 'your'? Or did this woman just like embarrassing the once Tenken?
"Gomen, once Sora falls asleep he has a death grip on whatever he's holding." Jin scratched the back of her neck. Soujiro blinked out of his thoughts and looked at Jin. He almost jumped out of his skin when he saw she was actually just a girl. One that didn't look any older then 15. And here with all her wisdom he had thought she was older then him.
"How do I get him off?" Soujiro asked now slightly in a panic. Jin clapped her hands in front of Sora but the bird wouldn't wake up.
"Sora you Ahou wake up!!!" She shouted at the bird but he wouldn't wake up. Jin hung her head in defeat. Soujiro noticed that many people were laughing at them. Of course being himself all Soujiro did was smile as Jin tried again and again to wake up the sleeping bird.
"Well it looks like your spending the night with feather brains."
"ARA?" Soujiro didn't want to spend his night with a psychopathic bird.
"When he wakes up he'll find me." She sighed. Soujiro looked at Jins eyes. They were light lime green. Like the lipstick Yumi used to wear. They seemed lively and happy but her tone of voice had been tired. :Strange:. Soujiro also noticed the stave on her back. :A ronin perhaps?:.
The day was soon turning dark and Jin was about to leave when the man that had spoken to Soujiro said, "Sense Sora is stuck on the boy why don't both of you spend the night with me and my family."
"I couldn't do that Toru." Jin said with a blush on her face which could clearly be seen even through the dim lighting as the sun was disappearing behind the hill by the town. The crowd had diffused and were going home or out to dinner.
"Nonsense. Mika loved it when you stayed last time and so does Reiko-chan." The good natured man spoke kindly to Jin.
"I really don't want to cause any trouble." Jin said softly.
"Your no trouble at all."
"Iie. I can just go back to the forest."
"I won't take no for an answer." Toru said defiantly. Jin just sighed then lifted her head and smiled.
"Hai alright." She then started to laugh. "You are one of the only people I give into."
Toru laughed. Then said, "And of course young man you are coming with us. Jin couldn't leave her care taker behind no matter how feathery he looks."
"Ara? Care taker?" Soujiro was confused and cocked his smiling face cutely.
"Hai. Without Sora, Jin couldn't live ne?" Toru smiled as he asked a beat red faced Jin.
"Iie! I'm old enough to take care of myself." Jin growled at Toru.
"Keep telling yourself that." Toru mumbled as he turned around and lead Jin, Soujiro and Sora to his house.
***********************
"JIN!" Shouted a girl about 13 years old.
"Konichi wa Reiko-san." Jin smiled at the younger girl who had just glomped her.
"Oka-san! Jin's here!" Reiko shouted at the top of her lungs even though she didn't really have to. The house was a normal cozy type house that currently had a delicious smell floating from the kitchen. Soujiro, who hadn't had a decent meal in over a month, was almost drooling.
"Oh Jin, honey, it's so nice to see you again." said a sweet looking woman around her late thirties with long brown hair and warm brown eyes.
"Konichi wa Mika-san." Jin bowed politely to the older woman.
"Nani? No hello for me?" Toru pretended to look hurt.
"Of course not dear." Mika smiled as she strode up and gave Toru a small peck on the lips.
"Oh and who's the darling young man?" Mika asked.
"Boku wa Seta Soujiro desu." Soujiro smiled.
Mika raised her eyebrows looking almost surprised. "Cute and polite. Now that's something I haven't heard of." She giggled. Soujiro felt again the uncomfortable heat rush to his face.
"Give us a riddle Jin, onegai!" Reiko giggled.
"Okay, riddle me this. The only son of a husband and wife is sitting in a jail cell. He looks out the window and sees a younger man sitting on a grassy hill. Then he says, "For that mans father is my father's son." So who is the man out on the hill?"
Soujiro blinked in confusion.
"Hmm..." said Mika. She truly looked puzzled.
"Well, I'm hungry. Let's ponder the question over dinner." Toru suggested.
"Ack! You and your stomach." Mika scowled.
"There was an old saying that the only way to get to a man's heart is through his stomach." Jin said with a crooked grin.
"Aa. Then he was a wise man indeed." Toru chuckled.
Dinner was ready and they all sat around the table. Including Soujiro who still had Sora perched on his shoulder snoozing. Soujiro didn't mind as much the fact that the bird was on him, he only minded that he couldn't get the bird to move. As Soujiro was eating he couldn't get the words from the riddle to leave his mind. :For that man's father is my father's son. Wouldn't that make the person sitting on the hill his own self? It couldn't be a brother because he was an only child:. Soujiro pondered as he ate. This wasn't fair. The riddle was ruining his meal.
Suddenly his food disappeared from his chopsticks. He blinked and looked at the bird perched on his shoulder who was currently chomping on something that Soujiro new was a piece of sashimi. Soujiro sighed. Now the bird was ruining his dinner. :Wait a minute...: the bird was awake. Soujiro looked at Sora timidly and said, "Could you move, onegai?". The bird looked a bit irritated but he moved. Now it was perched on Soujiro's head. "Ara? Demo...that's not what I meant." Soujiro said. He may have been the Tenken once but when it came to a creature like Sora, Soujiro was scared half to death. He wasn't an animal person and he didn't know why the bird had taken such a liking to him.
"Sora knows what you meant he just doesn't want to leave you so he's pretending not to understand." Jin said glaring at the bird. The bird screeched which startled Soujiro but he remained perfectly still.
"Take that back!" Shouted Jin as she leapt to her feet.
"Can you really understand the bird." Soujiro asked.
"Hai." Jin muttered as she sat back down.
"Sora if you don't come now I'll make yaki tori out of you." Jin threatened. Sora screeched and flew over to Jin.
"What do you mean?" She asked the bird who screeched again.
"We are both capable of taking care of each other." Then Jin blinked "that didn't come out right." Her face was bright red. The bird let out a wheezy sound that confused Soujiro for a moment until he realized it was the equivalent to the strange hawks laugh.
"Jin is the man on the grassy field himself?" Reiko asked referring back to the riddle.
"Iie." Jin smiled.
"Then who is he?" Soujiro blurted out.
"He's the man's son."
"ARA?"