hmmm...ah. Am feeling delicious.

Here's chappie 18. And I'd really appreciate it if those of you who haven't reviewed yet dropped me a line. It's such an amazing boost to my self-esteem...

randomness: Korpiklaani. "Midsummer Night".

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Whore Street

It was around four o'clock, and Lee was walking. He did that sometimes, to relax, and it always helped. It had helped now, too, easing the tension in his shoulders from the whole uproar about Naruto. The sky was an ominous yellow-gray, but he didn't feel like going home just yet.

He was somewhere to the south of the Street. Here, the houses became mansions and the chipped sidewalk made space for luscious gardens. Cars purred by, already sounding expensive.

Lee frowned when he came to a crossroad. Something was significant...

...oh, right. City Center 56. Where Neji went to school.

Lee shrugged. Why not? It couldn't hurt to see whether the other kid was there.

So he turned and walked down another villa-lined street, just as silent and empty as all the others, until he stood in front of a building that resembled nothing more than a massive kid's building block in uninspired grey and white. School had probably gotten out around fifteen minutes ago – there was still a steady stream of people leaving.

He leaned back against the fence and rolled his shoulders, relieved at how much easier it went after his walk.

The school was boring...there was no other word for it. The uniforms were – big surprise there! -- gray and white. The teachers that stood around, supervising the egress of the students, wore things that could only be described as 'teacherish' – corduroy pants, knitted vests, shit like that.

"Hey. I've seen you before! You're one of the fags who works on Whore Street!"

Lee raised a bored eyebrow and turned slowly to face the smirking dude. "Yeah. And?"

"Ugh. Shit, guys. Let's go. Sick fag." The dude turned around, his friends muttering darkly and shooting disgusted looks in Lee's direction.

Lee sighed. Stupidity was going to be the end of the human race someday, he just knew it.

"Don't you mind that?" It was Neji, appearing beside him with a shoulder bag and a frown.

Lee shrugged. "Not really. Walk back to the Street together?"

The milky-eyed boy nodded. "Sure."

"What about your...sister?"

"She's not my sister." Neji's voice hardened.

"Ah, sorry."

"No, it's all right. Just forget about it."

They passed the deserted-looking villas in a just-under-comfortable silence.

Lee broke the quiet. "No, I don't mind it. The insults, I mean. I think it's pretty funny, you know."

"Why?"

"There's a teacher – I know he works at your school. Tall, beard, glasses...teaches biology?"

"Mr. Ikazaki? What about him?"

"He's a regular of mine."

"What?"

"See? So many people call it disgusting and stuff, when actually at least a quarter of their social contacts and whatnot use a whore."

The tall boy frowned. He cocked his head. "And do you like doing it?"

"Depends."

"On what?"

"Well...on the customer. I mean, you're exchanging body fluids, you know? And there're some things that can make it get disgusting pretty easily."

Thankfully Neji didn't ask him to elaborate on that. After all, he still had a night of work before him.

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hemhem. I know, short and not really anything obvious. Basically a snippet to tell more about Lee.

Randomness: Lordi. "It snows in HELL."

please review, okay?