"It's the water you know."
What?
"The water is what keeps us all going. Water is life. You must know that by now anyway."
I'm sure I know, but I also know that there's no water out here, in the desert.
"No, that's wrong. Because she's out there."
Who is this she? Is it the child? Why are you always talking to me about her?
"She's waiting for you, you know."
No I don't know. I don't know anything about it. What are you talking about?
"Rise and shine!"
I reflexively punch at the noise, my body reacting before my slow, early morning brain. It could be an enemy, come to ambush me in my sleep.
It's worse. It's Luo.
He dodges my fist admirably, jumping away from my bed. He starts to cough, but I realize it's just a cover for his laugh.
"I thought that you weren't supposed to come in here, even though it's not locked. Some sort of trust building thing." I mumble sleepily, rubbing sleep out of my eyes. I yawn widely, my eyesight narrowing so that all I see is his grinning face. Such straight, white teeth he has.
"I thought you might say that." he says, "But then I also thought that you might not want to be late for class."
I stare at him uncomprehendingly for a moment, until I realize what he's saying. I swear quietly and jump out of bed. Luo politely retreats into the next room while I throw on clothing.
I run into the next room where he's waiting. When he sees me he looks at his watch.
"Wow." he says, "I didn't actually expect you to get ready so fast. You'll probably be early now."
I glare at him, and grab his wrist to look at his watch. "You've got to be kidding me! Why didn't you tell me what time it was earlier!"
"You never really gave me a chance…" he replies defensively.
"Bah! You're such a child!" I tell him, and then grab my bag. "Come on, we're going to get breakfast." I stomp out the door, followed by a gleeful Luo, down the stairs and to the dining room. We sit down at an empty table, as most of the tables are.
I stare around the room. "Are we early or late?" I wonder out loud.
"Early." Luo answers quietly. "Although it's late for most ninjas, it's still early for most of these political types. Most of the people we house here aren't actually ninjas."
I take that information and store it away safely in the back of my mind. How interesting. I look up to thank the waitress as she puts food on the table.
"Sensei!"
"Junko!" I say, hoping to god I've got the name right. "I didn't know you worked here!"
She nods and smiles. "I do. How are you this morning sensei?"
"I'm fine." I reply. "How are you?"
"Well." she says, nodding all the time. "I didn't realize you were staying here; I've never seen you here before."
"That's right; I haven't actually eaten here before. I haven't been very good about eating on a schedule since I got here."
"Sensei," she says, perfectly seriously. "Good nutrition is very important for your health. You should make sure you eat well."
"Of course you're right." I tell her. "How well I have taught you. Speaking of which, you aren't going to miss class today for work are you?"
"Oh no." she shakes her head. "I only work in the mornings, when it isn't busy, so I'll be on time for class."
"Good. Because today is going to be very intense!" I say, grinning evilly, but I don't think she gets it, because she just smiles widely at me.
"I have to get back to work!" she exclaims suddenly, and hurries off after telling me to enjoy my breakfast. I dig in to my breakfast at last. It's actually very good too; I should eat breakfast here all the time. Forget the crappy hospital cafeteria food.
"She's a nice kid." Luo says. He's already almost finished his breakfast by now.
I agree between mouthfuls. The kid in question comes back once I'm done to take our plates away. While she's at the table I offer to wait and walk with her to the hospital, and she agrees happily.
While we walk, Luo always a little behind us, Junko tells me about herself, her family, her favorite foods, what kind of weather she likes best. I realize while she's talking that, after all, she is just a child, no matter how grown up she may seem. I want to hug her or something, but I don't want to seem condescending, or make her feel childish, so I do nothing. I just listen.
At one point she looks behind us at Luo. "He sure is strange sensei," she says, "Is he one of your students too?"
"You could say that."
Luo snorts, but I don't look back at him. Junko stares at him for a little while longer before turning back to the front.
When we get to the hospital the others aren't there yet, so we wait for them in the usual meeting place. One by one my other students show up, and we start the day.