Mika followed Koba… Kabo… Kabu…what's his name along another dimly lit corridor, her now usual frown adorning her pale forehead as she watched the young man walking ahead of her. She felt awkward in the stony silence around them, the only noise being the sound of their feet slapping against the uneven stone floor.
'Umm, I'm sorry but I don't think I caught your name.' she said tentatively, so quietly she wondered vaguely whether he could hear her. She was about to repeat herself when he answered, making her cheeks burn crimson.
'Sorry, I was away with the fairies there!' he answered looking over his shoulder and smiling amicably at the brown eyed girl. 'My name is Kabuto, it doesn't surprise me that you didn't catch it! Lord Orochimaru was reluctant to… well, let's just say he wanted you all for himself.' Mika was confused, and Kabuto could see so. 'That's why he didn't tell you that you're not the only one here. He's the type that gets quite jealous, even though he changes favourites very often!' he finished with a small laugh.
'Favourites?' asked Mika curiously catching up to him and walking by his side, gazing up at him enquiringly. 'So I'm not the first?'
'Nope.' he answered light heartedly, smiling ahead of him as he led her down another corridor. 'And most certainly not the last! Although I think this could last a very long time.' he looked down at her curious face, the tear marks looked quite out of place on her innocent face. 'I doubt he'll get bored of you for quite a while.' Comforting as this last nugget of information was, it didn't override the fact that Mika was only a "favourite" and in Kabuto's own words would probably not be the last. She wondered how many more "favourites" were in the building at that very moment, and how many she would actually meet before Orochimaru became jealous and cut her off from the rest of the world.
'Why is he jealous?' she asked inquisitively, gazing up at the older boy who can't have been more than late teens. She could tell he was reluctant to answer her question, apprehensive that he might have already said too much.
'He feels that because you have his mark you are… how to put it?' there was a pause while the silver haired boy bit his lower lip, searching for the right way to explain her situation without putting himself or her in too much danger. 'You are basically part of his-'
'Belongings?' probed Mika infuriated at the thought that Orochimaru thought that she was nothing more than one of his play things. But Kabuto laughed.
'No! Not one of his belongings!' he said. His voice was friendly and welcoming, as though he was in fact a nice person but for some reason he had found himself with Orochimaru and thought it more interesting that going home. Mika wondered whether he was one of Orochimaru's long-running favourites and whether she might become a bit like Kabuto later on in her life. 'You are part of his Harem, maybe.' he continued, frowning to himself in the brief silence. 'Not exactly harem but you get my view, right?' she nodded.
'That might be a bit dodgy.' she said, smiling to herself as she gazed up at the older boy. He frowned down at her enquiringly. 'I saw a boy. If it was Orochimaru's harem then I think I might have to be a little worried.' she said grinning up at him and waiting for him to grasp her little joke. After a moment it sank in and the boy in the purple shirt laughed loudly at her sense of humour before turning off down a very short corridor which stopped at a pair of large stone doors. He knocked and the doors slid open with a lid crunching noise, Kabuto indicated that she should enter which she did before hearing the doors close again behind her.
She took a moment to take in the adequately sized room in which she now found herself: it was a lot lighter than most for one thing and she could see two large glass windows on the opposite wall letting in the evening sunlight, there was a table in the centre of the space, big enough for about six people but no more and it was made for two. The walls were painted a pastel shade of blue and there were one or two portraits on the wall of people Mika didn't recognise. She made her way to the table and inspected the food, realising with a sudden pang just how hungry she actually was. There were several kinds of meat, fish, sushi (which she wasn't too fond of but she knew how expensive it was), vegetables, and fruit dotted here and there. The table was so laden with food that there was hardly any space for the cutlery.
'Ah, you look stunning my Love.' came Orochimaru's voice from behind her making her a little uncomfortable as she whipped around to see him standing hidden in the corner, contemplating her silently. 'I trust you are hungry after such a gruelling day.' He indicated a chair and held it out for her as she sat down awkwardly. 'Please, go ahead. Eat, eat to your fill!' he said jovially, holding his hands out in what looked like a welcoming gesture but was in fact offering her all the food.
'Please, after you.' she said quietly, trying to resist the gorgeous looking food which could have been poisoned. Her stomach grumbled menacingly, trying to blackmail her into just grabbing whatever was closest and sinking her teeth into it. She hadn't eaten since the lunch before her dance which had been the day before and now it was evening she was almost faint with hunger.
'Do you still not trust me Mika?' he asked in a mock hurt tone, looking at her as he sat down on the other empty chair which had a plate in front of it. 'As you wish, if I die of poisoning then you may say that I was untrustworthy.' he conceded in what might have been a good-humoured tone but to Mika it sounded dishonest and sly. He reached for a plate of sushi and put some onto his plate before reaching for his chopsticks and putting a piece in his mouth. He stopped for a moment, smiled at Mika provocatively before chewing and swallowing.
As soon as she saw his Adam's apple moving to allow him swallow she grabbed the nearest pear and bit into it, feeling the sticky juice trickle down her chin and onto her chest before seizing the closest plate of meat and taking large bites out of it. She dropped the meat and pulled a plate of carrots towards her, stuffing two in her mouth while her mouth was still half full of meat and pear. She swallowed hard and reached for a cup which looked as though it was made of metal but she didn't care, she gulped down several mouthfuls before moving on to a bowl of rice which was just in reach, chopsticks lying unused she shovelled the small white grains into her mouth and swallowed without chewing. Suddenly she remembered Orochimaru still watching her, she snapped her head up and scowled at him defiantly as he smiled at her, looking delighted that she was stuffing her young face with his food. She sat up straight and tried to look dignified as she padded at her mouth with a napkin, noticing just how sticky she really was. She looked up when she heard the man laughing quietly.
'I hear you have favourites.' she said mainly to stop him laughing at her. 'Do you have many girls?' she asked, trying to think of something at least half decent to ask him and finding that she had no inspiration whatsoever. 'Or do you think girls are inferior too?' she finished, thinking mainly of her late older brother whom she held in great esteem.
'I believe talent is equal, whether it be in a female or a male.' he answered simply, watching Mika over the expanse of food between them. 'I feel that if someone has talent which I can… help them with, then gender is unimportant.' There was a pause, Mika pulled a different type of meat towards her and placed a slice on her plate elegantly, taking a few vegetables at the same time. 'However, on occasion when a male and female have the same talent I have found that the male can yield it with more impressive control.'
'Who have you seen?' asked Mika frostily, feeling personally victimised. 'I was better than my brother, wasn't I? My aunt was better than my uncle and she wasn't even born with the power.'
'I worked with both a brother and a sister.' he answered gently, still gazing steadily at the girl as she continued to eat enthusiastically. 'And I have to admit that the sister was quite a disappointment, whereas the brother is indeed impressive.'
'You say "is" about the brother.' she pointed out with her mouth slightly full. 'Does that mean he's still about? What about the girl?'
'The girl passed away at the hands of her brother, which didn't surprise me at the time and doesn't surprise me now.' he replied, linking the fingers of his hands and leaning his chin on them to watch her in more comfort. She didn't seem to react to this information. 'She was definitely a disappointment, to me and to her family.' Mika glanced up at him, wondering why he had paused before going back to her plate with renewed vigour. 'The brother however is still going strong and I believe going from strength to strength, coming up against noone who can defeat him, although I'm sure you could give him a run for his money.' She still hadn't grasped who he was talking about and he decided that she was a lot more interested in what was on her plate than what he was talking about.