Hibari screamed as she was falling down through what Hibari could only describe as some kind of void.
She couldn't tell which way was up or down as she tumbled through the seemingly endless expanse.
As she fell she saw words written in Japanese, but she couldn't tell what they were saying as they were passing by so fast for her to be able to read them.
There were also artistic renditions of shinobis, dragons, samurais, various yokais, and other creatures from Japanese's mythology.
and like the words, she flew by the images too fast to really get a better look at them other than their general appearance.
"Yagyu, he-help me," Hibari whimpered as tears began to form in the corner of her eyes as she shut them tightly hoping that whatever was happening would stop.
Suddenly, the young pinkette noticed that she was falling toward a large wall made out of clouds.
Realizing she was going to crash into it, Hibari once again screamed as she began comically flailing her limbs in a feeble attempt to slow her fall.
As expected, it didn't do anything to slow her descent as she crashed into the clouds and created a Hibari-shaped hole.
Hibari popped her head out of the clouds, with pieces of clouds that resembled a pair of bunny ears on top of her head, and a piece of cloud that looked like a bunny's nose on her nose.
Blinking a few times in confusion, the pink-haired girl shook her head to get rid of the clumps of cloud stuck to it.
"What is this place?" Hibari asked out loud, her voice full of fear, as she held a fist to her chest. She scanned her surroundings.
Despite there not being any source of light, everything was well lit, so she was able to see clearly. However, There wasn't anything she could see, no people, no trees, no rocks, nothing. The place the pink haired shinobi found herself in was completely void of anything except for the clouds she crashed into, which seemed to stretch on forever. Though now that Hibari took a closer look, she noticed that the clouds didn't look natural, in fact, they looked like they were drawings. Which was surprising since when Hibari touched them, it felt like she was touching cotton candy.
Looking up, Hibari saw more of those drawing clouds floating above her head, the "sky" was completely beige like old paper, and scribbled all across the "sky" were more kanji.
'Am I in a shinobi barrier?' Was Hibari's initial thought as she pushed herself onto her feet. Kiriya-sensei did explain to her and the other girls that shinobi barriers were used to isolate other shinobis and/or keep a battle between shinobis hidden from regular civilians.
However, this didn't feel like a shinobi barrier, it felt…different.
Not really sure what to do, the young pinkett began walking in a random direction.
With luck, she might find something that can help her.
Nothing.
Hibari walked for what felt like hours, and she still couldn't find anyone or anything.
Hibari let out an exhausted sigh, as she trudged forward with a slouch as she let her arms dangling at her side.
Hibari, physically at least, wasn't really tired. Her training as a shinobi had given her far more stamina than even the most fit civilian.
And despite The clouds going up to the middle of her thighs, they didn't impede her movement in the slightest.
In fact, ever since hibari was in this place, her body felt more refreshed than when she first got home.
Mentally however, not so much. she calmed down a bit and wasn't as nervous as before, but she was still scared. That and Not really making any progress in finding out where she was, or how to get out, really brought her morale down even more.
Hibari would be lying if she said she wasn't feeling the least bit frustrated at her lack of progress.
Looking back up toward the "sky", hibari tried reading the Kanji to see if it could reveal some kind of clue, unfortunately the sentences didn't make any sense and looked more like gibberish than anything else.
Hibari thought that they were written in something like a code and tried her best to decipher it, but all she got for her trouble was a headache and even more frustration.
Hibari only saw one instance where the sentences actually made sense.
[I still don't think this is a good idea
Got any better ideas buddy
She is pretty cute though, with a nice figure to boot
Down boy
I'm a girl you honking shoob]
And that was it.
Hibari noted that it Looked like some kind of conversation was taking place. Though what it was about, hibari couldn't tell, and it didn't help her in the least.
She let out a whimper as she once again slumped her head and continued walking.
As she walked, she eventually saw two individuals not that far in front of her. Happy to finally see other people, Hibari began sprinting toward them. Hopefully, they could tell her where she was.
However, as she got closer and she got a better look at the two people, the young shinobi's hopes were dashed, and was now also confused.
Instead of actual people, the two individuals Hibari saw were actually doodles that resembled peddlers during ancient Japan. One was colored red, while the other was a bright pink.
What surprised the pinkette the most was how the doodles seemed to move all on their own, what's more, they didn't seem to have been drawn on the wall or any surface for that matter.
Hibari watched as the doodle peddlers trudged forward as they carried their wares on their back. Suddenly the fog in front of Hibari and the peddlers rapidly dispersed, revealing a deep ravine.
The pinkette eyes widened in shock. Had she kept walking she would have fallen down it.
Peeking over the edge, the pinkett couldn't help but gulp nervously at how deep the ravine was.
To say it was a long way down would be an understatement. Hibari could barely make out the river all the way at the bottom.
As well as the numerous sharks swimming through the water.
Letting out a nervous whine, Hibari backed away from the edge of the ravine to a safe distance.
Hibari didn't want to think about what would happen if she fell. She had a pretty good idea, she just didn't want to think about it.
The sounds of footsteps pulled her out of her thoughts and her attention returned to the doodle peddlers. The both of them were standing near the edge of the ravine, scanning the area, probably looking for a way to cross to the other side.
Eventually the red peddler tapped the pink one's shoulder, gaining their attention, before pointing off to the side.
Following where the red peddler was pointing, Hibari saw rock pillars that stretched up from the bottom of the ravine and looked like a way to get to the other edge by using said pillars as stepping stones.
The red peddler patted the pink peddler's back before making his way to the pillars. The pink one followed suit, but Hibari noticed that he looked nervous.
Once the doodle peddlers reached the pillars, the red one began hopping from pillar to pillar quickly and gracefully, all the while being careful of his footing.
It didn't take long before the red doodle peddler reached the safety of the other side.
The red peddler waved for his companion to cross as well.
Hibari looked over toward the pink peddler and saw him looking down the ravine with a nervous expression, not that the pinkett could blame him.
The pink peddler gulped nervously before looking up toward the red peddler, who was still waving their hand. The pink peddler took a deep breath before exhaling and then began hopping across the pillars, Al be it at a much slower pace.
The pink peddler was almost halfway to the other side when he made the mistake of looking down.
As soon as he saw how high he was over the shark-infested waters, he faltered when he was about to leap toward the next pillar. This proved to be costly as he lost his footing and fell down the ravine screaming.
Hibari let out a horrified gasp as she watched the pink peddler fall down toward the shark-infested river below.
One of the sharks sticks its head out of the water and opens its jaw wide intending on swallowing the poor doddle whole.
The clouds rolled over and covered the scene before Hibari had to see that happen, and the pinkett swayed a bit as she hugged herself in an attempt at self comfort.
She didn't want to be here anymore, heck she didn't want to be here in the first place.
Hibari was then pulled out of her thoughts when bits of cloud floated in front of her before forming together to form what Hibari guessed was a message.
"The most deadly poison to a ninja is a ninja's own lack of confidence in themselves."
The pinkette blinked wondering what it meant, but before she could ponder any more, all the clouds surrounding Hibari Suddenly dissipated and the young pinkett found herself standing on top of a bamboo stalk.
The young girl wobbled a bit before she was able to balance herself, and in doing so made the mistake of looking down.
Her eyes widened in both shock and fear. Below her was the same ravine as before, and at the bottom, Hibari could see the fins of even more sharks.
One of the sharks popped its head out of the water, looking directly at the pink-haired girl. It licked its lips in anticipation before showing off its razor-sharp teeth.
Hibari immediately closed her eyes shut, her entire body shaking in fear.
'C-calm down Hibari, this is just like in training, just remember your training,' she thought to herself in an attempt to calm down and trying not to think about how much she kept failing at keeping her balance.
Her heart stopped when she began hearing cracking sounds right below her feet.
Opening her eyes and slowly looking down, Hibari saw the source of the noise. The same bamboo stalk she was balancing herself on, was starting to crack.
Eyes widened in panic, and Hibari desperately looked around for a way to get herself out of this. The edge of the ravine was too far away for her to merely jump towards. Thankfully, there were multiple bamboo stalks for her to jump on so she could reach it.
Right before the bamboo stalk she was on crumbled, Hibari leaped onto the nearest bamboo stalk. However, right as soon as she landed the stalk began to break as well. Hibari regained her balanced as quickly as she could as she looked for the next nearest bamboo stalk and leaping towards it before the stalk she was on crumpled as well.
Like the previous two, as soon as Hibari landed on the stalk it began to break under her weight. So, like before Hibari tried to quickly regain her balance before leaping onto the nearest bamboo stalk.
This repeated as Hibari quickly leaped from one stalk to the other, as she was getting closer and closer to the edge of the ravine. Though what the girl didn't notice was that the time it took for her to regain her balance was decreasing little by little with each leap.
However, as she was halfway toward her goal, Hibari noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Resting on another bamboo stalk was a nest full of baby birds. Unlike the doodle peddlers from before, these birds instead looked real.
Before the pink-haired girl could even question how they got there in the first place, the bamboo stalk the nest resided on crumbled. Her eyes widened in horror as the nest began to fall.
"Oh no!" Hibari exclaimed, and without thinking dove for the nest. She was able to catch the nest and birds, however, she now found herself falling down toward the bottom of the ravine,
As if to emphasize her predicament, more sharks popped their heads out of the water looking right at her. Some repeatedly snapped their sharp teeth together in anticipation, and one even wore a napkin around its neck and was holding a fork in one fin and a knife in the other.
Thinking quickly, Hibari grabbed onto a nearby bamboo stalk. She gripped it as tightly as she could, winching slightly at the heat fiction she slowed down to a stop. All the while making sure the nest and the birds in it were safe.
Below, the sharks all let out disappointed groans, as the one holding the utensils crossed its fins over its chest and grumbled to itself.
However, before Hibari could even relax in the slightest, the Bamboo stalk began to crack. Quickly looking around, Hibari saw another bamboo stalk below her and leaped toward it.
Like the others, once hibari landed on the Bamboo stalk it began to crack under her weight.
Thankfully, there were nearby bamboo stalks that she could leap towards. what's more, the bamboo stalks looked like they could allow her to reach the top of the ravine.
Acting quickly, Hibari pushed off the bamboo she was hanging from right before it crumbled away, and landed on the nearest stalk. the pinkette quickly regained her bearings while also ensuring the birds in her grasp didn't fall, before leaping onto the next elevated stalk.
she kept leaping from stalk to stalk, until eventually her feet planted firmly on solid ground.
"Ha ha, I've finally made it," hibari said as she breathed heavily before falling to her knees while being careful so the birds don't fall out of the nest.
"I thought I was never going to make it," she cried out in exasperation, before looking down toward the nest resting on her lap.
The pink haired girl smiled in relief when all of the baby birds were alright.
That smile turns into surprise when the baby birds flew up into the air.
"Eeehhhh!" Hibari let out cutely as she saw the birds fly away from her and on top of a doorway.
Wait…doorway?
Blinking in surprise, Hibari found herself kneeling in front of two massive doors. And those doors led into a massive pagoda that stretched high into the "sky".
How did she not see it earlier?
"What is this place?" hibari asked nervously as she clutched her hands together.
Suddenly the doors leading into the pagoda open seemingly all by themselves.
Hibari didn't move from her spot, still both scared and confused by the situation she found herself in.
What felt like A full minute had passed to the girl before the pinkette shook her head.
She didn't know why, but apparently she was brought here. For what she didn't know. and the only way to learn why...was to go inside the pagoda.
However, she was afraid of doing so. Shinobi training combined with her own fears told her that this was most likely a trap, and she would be walking into it as soon as she stepped through those doors.
Though as she looked around, hibari realized she didn't really have much of a choice.
the pagoda resided on top of a plateau completely surrounded by the ravine, and Hibari couldn't find any way to cross to the other side...which was now obscured by more clouds.
she thought about sneaking into the structure but immediately dismissed the idea. whoever resided within the building more than likely knew she was here, and was expecting her. so there was really no point in trying to sneak around.
that and hibari couldn't see any windows anywhere on the pagoda...which was a really weird design choice in her opinion. But it also meant there weren't any other entrances other than the front door.
she slapped her cheeks in an attempt to gain her bearings and walked through the doors.
And Hibari's eyes widened in awe at the scene before her.
The chamber was filled with numerous shinobis, with pairs sparing against one another, each one armed with either a katana, a pair of wakizashi, nunchucks, a Bo staff, Sais, kunais, and various kinds of shinobi weapons that Hibari didn't know the names of. Some of the doodle shinobis were even just using their bare hands.
It was like a massive Dojo, the largest Hibari has ever seen in her life.
None of the shinobis seemed to have noticed her, or (and more than likely) at the very least didn't feel the need to respond to her presence.
Either way, Hibari was thankful they weren't attacking her. She could handle large mobs consisting of run-of-the-mill shinobis without much issue,
However, these shinobis moved with both greater speed and precision than even her friends. And even with Hibari's inexperienced eyes, she can tell that each and every doodle shinobi were many times more skilled than her friends.
If just one of these doodle shinobis decided to attack her, Hibari doubted she would be able to fend them off.
Shaking the thought out of her head, but remaining cautious of the doodle shinobis, Hibari began walking into the dojo.
As she walked through the dojo-like chamber, Hibari couldn't help but stare in awe. not toward just the doodle shinobis and their fights, but also toward the beautiful and surprisingly colorful architecture.
So distracted, the pinkette bumped face-first into something before falling backward onto her rear.
The pink-haired girl let out a groan as she rubbed her aching butt, before looking up at what she bumped into. Hibari was immediately petrified by fear and her pupils shrunken to the size of peas as she stared at what she saw.
Before her was what looked to be a samurai donned head to toe in a dark red yoroi armor with and with a haori with the same color draped over it. Despite it sitting down on its knees, its large size still allowed it to loom over her.
Hibari couldn't help but shake in slight fear as she gazed up toward the Imposing figure before her.
That fear only grew when the giant samurai tilted its head forward to gaze down toward the pink haired shinobi. It didn't help that Hibari didn't see any eyes, or anything really, passed the holes in the mask that made up the samurai's face.
"Wh-who are you, and what is this place?" Hibari asked after finally gaining enough courage to speak, however she couldn't keep the fear she felt out of her voice.
The samurai didn't say anything and continue to stare towards the young pinkette before it's eyes briefly glowed
Hibari then heard what sounded like a pencil scribbling on paper.
Looking in the direction of the noise, the young shinobi blinked in complete surprise as an image was being drawn in midair
Seeing a doodle...being(?) move and perform actions as if it were a 3D creature is one thing; seeing something drawn in mid-air is another.
When the scribbling was done, Hibari saw a doodle of a familiar black book.
Hibari wondered why she was being shown a doodle of the book, before she remembered the last thing she did before coming to this weird place.
And that was picking up the book that was strangely glowing, before suddenly opening all on its own.
Then she found herself in this strange place.
That's when it clicked in the young pink haired girl's head.
"Am I…in the book?" Hibari asked, not quite believing what she said.
The samurai merely raised its hand and gestures toward the doodle shinobis behind the pinkette. At that, the doodle shinobis all ceased their sparring sessions simultaneously, bowing respectfully toward their respective opponents before standing at attention before the samurai.
The whole sequence kind of reminded Hibari of the times when Kiriya-sensei calls for her and her friend's attention.
Wait a minute.
Hibari turned to look back toward the giant samurai.
"Wait, you help train shinobis like me?"
The samurai merely nodded.
"What do you want with me?"
The samurai once again gestures toward the doodle shinobis, then pointed a finger toward the young pinkette.
Hibari couldn't help but be confused at first, not sure what it was trying to tell her. After a minute, the young shinobi in training figured it out…probably.
"Y-you want to train me?" She asked, unsure if that was the case.
The samurai nodded again.
"But why me?"
The samurai gave no response, it didn't even make any movements.
Realizing it wasn't going to give her an answer, Hibari couldn't help but pout cutely.
But that pout was quickly replaced with a hopeful and excited smile.
I have to show this to Yagyu and the other girls, hibari said excitedly
The large samurai eyes and mouth glowed and hummed in a seemingly disapproving manner as it shook its head side to side, before putting a finger in front of its mouth.
"Wait, I shouldn't tell my friends?" Hibari asked in both surprise and disappointment.
It nodded, before reaching into its harori and pulled out a scroll. It held the scroll in front of Hibari before unfurling it.
On the parchment it said;
"Once a ninja is known, he can never be unknown."
Hibari understood that, and was somewhat confused by this. One of the first and most important things that's been taught to Hibari, is to keep your identity as a shinobi hidden from civilians. So she didn't really understand why it was telling her this.
Looking back toward the samurai, her confusion clearly showing on her face, Hibari couldn't help but ask, "But why not? Their my friends, and I don't like having to-"
The young pinkette was cutoff when the samurai eyes and mouth glowed and hummed once again with more intensity before bringing its finger back in front of its mouth.
Hibari couldn't help but shrink in herself a bit as she gulped in slight fear.
It was clear that this wasn't up for discussion. It would train the young shinobi, however she wasn't allowed to tell her friends about the book.
No if and/or buts.
Hibari looked down at her feet in disappointment. She didn't want to keep things secret from her friends. It was bad enough she kept her real name hidden from them, as well as her eyes'…condition.
The former is due to the rule that all shinobis must follow, while the latter…was out of fear that her friends would resent her if they ever found out.
It still didn't mean she liked it though.
But she hasn't been making much, if any progress in her shinobi training. There were even times where she felt like she was going backwards instead of forward in her training.
And right now she was given an opportunity to help her in her training, to help make her stronger, to help her no longer be both a burden and a disappointment.
The answer was obvious.
Taking a deep breath before exhaling, Hibari built up her nerves and looked up directly into where the samurai's eyes would be with determination in her own.
"Alright, I won't tell the others about you," Hibari said before giving the samurai a bow.
The samurai nodded its head in acknowledgement.
Suddenly hibari felt something tug against her being, and she let out a surprised yell as she was suddenly sent flying backwards in the air.
"aaaaahhhhhhh," Hibari let out as she tumbled through the air, before her world was engulfed in a bright white light.
The next thing Hibari knew, she found herself staring up toward a familiar ceiling, lying in a rather awkward and very uncomfortable position.
Sitting up, Hibari checked her surroundings, and saw that she was back in her room. her eyes then landed on the book.
She picked it up, and stared at the pages of the now open book. The pages contained the same message she remembered seeing when she was inside the book: "The most deadly poison to a ninja is a ninja's own lack of confidence in themselves."
The young pinkette continued staring at the book, still taking in the fact of what she found and how it said it could help her.
She was so lost in her thoughts that she was startled when someone suddenly began knocking on her door.
"EEEK," Hibari cutely yelped out as she jumped and accidentally tossed the book up into the air.
realizing what she just did, the young pink haired girl's eyes widened, and she looked up toward the book. her eyes widened even more when she saw the book fall right towards her...
BANG!
and corner first, onto her forehead.
"Owie!" The pinkette whines cutely as she messages her forehead. She flinched at hints of a bump forming where the book struct her.
"Hibari, are you in there?" Yagyu voice can be heard from behind the door, and
"Uh, um," Hibari stammered her as she looked down towards the book that was now resting on her lap, "hang on, I'm uh…naked, yeah I'm naked. Just give me a minute!"
Not noticing the stammering noise from the other side of the door, The pinkette scrambles off the floor and toward her dresser. She quickly opens one of her draws before stuffing the book inside and slamming the drawer shut, before she rushes toward the door.
Hibari took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves. Yagyu could always tell when something was bothering Hibari, so the pinkette had to calm her nerves so her friend didn't suspect anything.
Hibari opens the door to see yagyu on the other side, the white haired girl's cheeks slightly red with a hint of blood dripping from her nose.
"H-Hi Yagyu," Hibari greeted somewhat nervously, "Um, why are you here?"
"I didn't see you once school was over, I was concerned so I came to see if you were home," Yagyu explained with her usual stoic expression, "Are you alright Hibari?"
If Hibari wasn't close friends with Yagyu, the pinkette would have missed the concern in the white-haired girl's voice. The young pink-haired shinobi suddenly felt guilty.
"Yeah, I'm alright Yagyu," Hibari reassured with a nervous smile, "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you worry, Yagyu. I just…I just needed some time alone."
Yagyu grew a frown, her concern more evident.
"Are you sure you're alright?" the white-haired shinobi asked as she stepped into the pinkette's room.
"Yep," Hibari reassured with a nervous smile as she placed her hands behind her back, "Just had a lot on my mind, that's all."
"Is it related to your performance in training today?" Yagyu asked more as a statement than a question. The Pinkette's eyes widen as she stared at her friend, surprised at how close to the mark she was.
Well minus the part involving a magic shinobi book and all.
"Y-yeah, I just felt like I haven't been getting any better," Hibari admitted.
"It's alright Hibari, in time you'll get stronger," yagyu reassured as she gently placed a hand on the younger girl's shoulder, "and if anything tries to hurt you, I will protect you."
Hibari was slightly annoyed by the last comment. She knew Yagyuu meant well, but Hibari sometimes couldn't help but become somewhat irritated by her friend feeling the need to baby her.
Still though, Hibari did feel a bit better at her best friend's words.
"Thanks Yagyu-" Hibari began to say but her eyes widened when she looked behind her friend. Sticking out of the drawer of her dresser was one of the corners of the black book. In her rush, she must have not made sure the book was hidden properly.
"Is everything okay Hibari?" Yagyu asked, a concern frown beginning to form on her face.
Thankfully Yagyu's back was toward the book so the white haired girl didn't see it. While yagyu did know about the book's existence, Hibari didn't know how to explain to Yagyu why she didn't show the book to Kiriya-sensei without revealing the book's nature.
"um, yeah! everything is alright yagyu, hehehe," Hibari tried to reassure, giving her friend an unconvincing smile.
Sure enough, the white haired shinobi didn't look convinced as the concern frown became more apparent.
Hibari tried thinking of some way to make Yagyu leave her room and preventing her from seeing the book, but she couldn't come up with anything.
Thankfully her prayers were answered by her stomach rumbling.
At that moment the expression on the white haired shinobi's face shifted from a worried frown to blinking in mild surprise as she looked down toward the pinkette's growling stomach.
Hibari couldn't help but blush in embarrassment, but it did give her the opportunity to get Yagyu out of her room and away from the book.
"S-sorry Yagyu, I guess I'm kind of hungry," Hibari said with a giggle as she rubbed the back of her head, before grabbing the other girl's hands with both of hers. A blush immediately appeared on the white haired girl's cheeks, though Hibari didn't know why.
"Hey how about we go and eat dinner at a restaurant, just the two of us," Hibari suggested as she gently pulled her friend toward the door, "I know this place that I'm sure you'll like."
"I ugh, um…that, that sounds nice," Yagyu stammered, which made the pink haired shinobi giggle. Most of the time Yagyu was always serious and cool, but every now and then Yagyu often becomes flustered
Hibari would be lying if she said it wasn't cute.
"Alrighty, then let's go!" Hibari cheered as she yanked Yagyu out of her room and into the hallway.
And away from the black book hidden within the pinkette's dresser.
Barely five minutes after striking a deal with the pinkette, and the nomicon was already having doubts this plan was going to work.
…well a bit more doubt than it already had.
The girl wasn't all that good at lying and keeping a straight face when under pressure (Not nearly as bad as the current ninja, but still…), and her friend was smart enough to see through the façade the pinkentte was trying (and failing) to put up.
Thankfully the white haired girl seems to have feelings for the pinkette, to the point that her judgment and thought process become considerably clouded.
[ohhh, potential yuri action!
Down boy
Again, I'm a honking girl you shoob!]
GETTING BACK ON TRACK!
While this would eventually be harmful to the white haired girl in the future, right now it will be helpful in preventing the white haired shinobi from noticing that her pink haired friend is still in possession of the nomicon.
And given how protective/possessive she was over the pink-haired girl, she would no doubt inform their sensei of the nomicon's nature if she ever found out.
…which is honestly something the nomicon couldn't fault the girl for. The nomicon did suck people's minds into its pages and can potentially erase their memories…
…or allow personalities composed of the negative traits of previous ninjas to take over the host's body and leave the original trapped within the nomicon.
[I still think that was a stupid idea!
Well how else were we going to get the ninja to stop going "full on nomicon"!? For crying out loud, he chose the Stroganoff over the chicken parmesan because the message we were giving him wasn't clicking!
You know things would be a lot smoother if we were able to directly talk to him as opposed to just using riddles.]
Still though, the nomicon was certain that the pinkette will be able to keep it's nature of its existence a secret. the girl had great potential, she just needed to push past her self doubts.
after all it wouldn't be the first time when a ninja went beyond the nomicon's expectations, such as the current ninja of norrisvile.
Now it just needed some way to get the girl to deliver the nomicon to the ninja without revealing his identity…which would be tricky considering that there wasn't any "obvious" threat that would require the norris ninja to come out.
Key word being obvious.
Debbie let out a sigh as she adjusted the strap of her bag before resting her eyes on the stage in front of her and the crowd.
There was going to be some kind of eating contest today. The 2nd Annual Ultimate Eating Championship to be precise.
It wasn't anything big, at least not when compared to the ones back in Norrisville, but it was honestly the only scoop-worthy thing that happened since she got here. Which in Debbie's opinion, was very disappointing.
"hey there peeps," a Teenage girl with long orange hair and a beauty mark under her left eye announced from on top of the stage,
"it's your gal Heidi talking to from
the 2nd Annual Ultimate Eating Championship, all the way from the Land of the rising sun!"
Even more so since Heidi somehow became the co-hostess of the event. How she convinced the chairman of the district to let her also host the event, Debbie wouldn't know. However, this didn't surprise the young journalist either, Heidi always somehow manages to become the host of many events back in Norrisville.
The main issue with this however is that due to her popularity, more people will be more interested in watching her Me-cast instead of reading her paper.
Like usual.
Debbie is well known for her comprehensive reporting and in-depth analysis on pretty much everything she has covered. This has given her a considerable amount of credibility, enough so that she can even make McFist recall some of his products, especially when said products mutate high school students.
Though her credibility did take a hit for supposably reporting that Randy was the Ninja…only for that to be false.
However, while Heidi doesn't put as much effort into finding facts as Debbie does, or at all really, she did know how to draw people's attention and entertain them.
And as much as Debbie hated to admit it, people preferred to be entertained than getting facts.
More often than not, people would ignore the NHGTTWDPC online edition in favor of Hedie's web show.
Debbie was then pulled out of her thoughts when the opening celebration began and the contestants for the contest walked on stage.
Out of the contestants, only five really stood out to Debbie.
The first was Howard, which didn't surprise Debbie in the least. That boy would use any excuse to eat free food.
The second one that caught Debbie's attention was hard not to notice due to their sheer size. They were a large teenage girl (at least Debbie assumed they were a girl, judging by the uniform they wore) who was so fat that they rivaled the size of bash's monster form. Debbie had a pretty good guess as to why she(?) was participating.
The third one stood out if only because of how he wore a long white school uniform that was unzipped, completely exposing his lean torso. However, he still looked unhealthy, like he had barely seen the sun.
'He's probably one of those delinquents that was a member of one of those gangs in the area,' Debbie thought to herself with a slight frown.
It didn't help that the man had an arrogant smirk on his face as he looked down on everyone, as if he thought he was better than them.
Debbie couldn't help but roll her eyes, people like him didn't go far in life, and normally end up dead in an alleyway.
The last two contestants stood out to Debbie not so much because they were the only girls who were competing (Debbie had doubts that the fat one was really a girl), but more so because of their…appearance.
Not to say they were unappealing, no, far from it. Both girls were beautiful.
One girl had fair skin and long blond hair that reached down to her waist. She had teal eyes and a kind serene smile plastered on her face.
The other girl also had fair skin, but had long straight raven black hair that reached down to her lower thighs and had flat-cut bangs resting on her forehead, and deep blue eyes. She had a refined look to her and was dressed in high-quality clothing.
The thing that made both girls standout more was how… well-proportioned they were, especially in the chest department.
Debbie couldn't help but stare in disbelief, and slight annoyance, at the girls' ridiculously sized breasts.
Debbie was certain that those two were often the center of attention wherever they went, especially with the boys. Similar to that girl Amanda, who somehow was able to make pretty much all the boys in school drool all over her and treat her like a honking queen.
heck, even the guys whom Debbie was certain didn't seem to know that girls even existed (ie; Bash), guys who seemed to only had eyes for another girl (Bucky), and guys who she was certain didn't care about girls (Howard, Julian) all seemed to want to go out with the new student. If Debbie was a conspiracist nut, she would have assumed that Amanda was some kind of succubus.
Debbie shook her head, and all thoughts of the strange girl went away. She looked up toward the raven-haired girl again, who seemed to be conversing with the blonde contestant. They were shortly joined by another girl who also had a voluptuous figure and long wavy blonde hair that reached down to her waist.
She seemed energetic and outgoing,
What they were talking about, Debbie couldn't hear.
However, Debbie couldn't help but stare at the group, more specifically the ravenette. Debbie didn't know why, but the young journalist couldn't help but feel like she saw her somewhere before.
"I don't get why we're even here in the first place Howard," A familiar voice said, pulling Debbie from her thoughts. Looking toward where she heard the voice come from, she saw both Randy and Howard.
The purplette looked particularly annoyed, while the orange-haired teen had a non-caring expression.
Which wasn't really out of the ordinary with the two, despite how close they were. There were often times the two would butt heads, more often than not because of Howard's selfishness. And by the looks of it, this was no different.
However, Randy looked even more annoyed than usual, as well as extremely antsy if the way he was bouncing his foot was any indication. Not only that but Debbie also noticed how his hair was slightly messier than usual, and that there were subtle hints of bags forming under the lanky's teen's eyes.
'He probably didn't get enough sleep last night'
"You know why Cunningham," Howard said defensively, with annoyance in his voice, as he cracked his knuckles in anticipation, "I've won every single eating contest back in Norrisville, now it's time for the reputation of Bottomless Weinerman to spread to different lands."
"It's also an excuse to eat free food," Randy grumbled with a roll of his eyes as he crossed his arms, "You do know that everything in the prize is past their expiration dates right?"
Debbie couldn't help but wonder what seemed to have gotten under Cunningham's skin. Normally in events like this, he would display about as much enthusiasm as his best friend Howard. Even if he wasn't going to participate himself, he would do his best to be the best motivator he can be.
Now, however, not so much. Right now Randy looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but here
"Just past their expiration dates Cunningham, just after," Howard countered. Knowing Howard, all the food would be gone in less than a week, give or take a few days, "What's the big deal, Cunningham?"
"You know what the big deal is Howard, I should be out there looking for you-know-what," Randy shot back as he facepalmed, "Instead we're just wasting our time in an eating contest."
"One, participating in an eating contest is never a waste of time," the short chubby boy countered, before grabbing the taller boy by the collar and pulling him down so they were eye to eye, "SO YOU TAKE THAT BACK!"
The force of the orange-haired teen's voice was strong enough that it caused the skin on Randy's face to be blown backward.
Immediately after that outburst, Howard let go of his best friend's collar and return to his previous attitude, while Randy was left somewhat dazed.
"Two, where are you going to start looking?" Howard asked with his arms crossed, as Randy shook his head back and forth to regain his composure.
After blinking a few times, the purplette glared down toward his best friend and opened his mouth to protest.
"It's not like we can check the school's lost and found, it's still the weekend," Howard cut Randy off before the other had the chance to say anything.
Whatever the tall teen was going to say died in his throat. Randy simply closed his mouth before crossing his arms and glared toward the ground.
"It's just that the book is really important Howard," Randy grumbled before glaring at the orange teen again, "it contains ove-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know how important that book is Cunningham," the shorter boy quickly said, cutting off whatever the purplette was going to say as he facepalmed, "you kept repeating how you needed to find it as soon as possible all night for the past two days!"
After he said that, Debbie noticed that Howard's hair was also slightly messier than normal, and he too had hints of bags forming under his eyes.
At his friend's words, Randy gained a guilty expression and he began rubbing the back of his neck before grumbling, "It wasn't all nigh-."
"That's because I had to knock you out using my underwear Cunningham!" Howard interrupted with a deadpan, making both Randy and Debbie scrunch their noses up in disgust.
Debbie eventually decided to ignore them. She didn't really know what they were talking about, nor did she really care. Knowing them, Randy was probably talking about a book that he was assigned to do a report on and he lost it before even starting the assignment itself.
Instead, she returned her attention back to the contest which was now calling the contestants up.
"Alrighty, let's get this show on the road!" Heidi said with excitement as she announced the first two contestants, "First up on the block are Yomi and Murasame!"
After calling out the names of the first contestants, the blonde girl with the serene smile and that unhealthy looking delinquent walked up onto the stage before sitting down at their respective tables.
The latter then turned to leer at his opponent and looked like he was saying something. What he said, Debbie wasn't close enough to hear. Though whatever he said just seemed to confuse the blonde as she just looked at him while tilting her head to the side.
Apparently mistaking her confusion for being intimidated, the delinquent laughed before talking again.
Instead of giving the man any kind of response, the blonde teen just turned to face forward and began to ignore him, even as he kept talking with that smug grin on his face.
A while passed however the food the contestants needed to eat wasn't brought out. In fact, what they needed to eat wasn't even announced yet.
Debbie was getting both inpatient as well as confused with how long it was taking for them to start the competition. eating competitions back in Norisville didn't nearly take half as long as this to begin even with delays.
And she wasn't the only one who was thinking this as well.
"Oh, for the love of cheese! What's taking so long!?" Howard exclaimed, his tone irritated, as he waved his hands up in the air.
Hedi was starting to look nervous, apparently also wondering what was taking so long, as she kept looking backstage.
Following the older girl's gaze, Debbie saw the chairman rushing around.
Eventually, one of the district's employees came up to Heidi and whispered into the ginger-haired girl's ear. Debbie couldn't hear what they were saying, but judging by the shocked look on Heidi's face, chances are something happened that would affect the contest.
After coughing a bit into her fist, Heidi muttered something Debbie couldn't hear before looking at the audience with a nervous expression, "Sorry everyone, apparently there's been some kind of mix up…"
'Called it,' Debbie thought.
"For the first round the challenge was to eat a whole cabbage," Heidi continued, trying to put a peppy smile back on her face as the employees brought out a heaping mountain of cabbage core, "but instead our contestants will have to eat cabbage cores!"
"What!?" Murasame exclaimed, making no attempt to hide his disdain, "Cabbage cores!? I'm not a rabbit!"
Debbie couldn't help but find his attitude immensely grating. He was almost as annoying as Howard gets when he has to do something he didn't want to do…which happens very often.
"If you don't like it, why not abstain from competing?" Yomi suggested, her serene smile still plastered on her face, but Debbie could pick out traces of annoyance in her voice.
"Abstain?!" the man repeated, looking at the younger blonde with wide eyes, as if she just said the most outlandish thing, "If I did that, this would be as far as I go! Eighth place!"
Suddenly, Murasame got into Yomi's face, his eyes growing thoroughly bloodshot, "Do you even realize what that would mean, little lady?!"
"N…No…?" she answered nervously and uncertainly, as she began to scoot away from her opponent.
Debbie couldn't blame her, the man looked like he was about to start frothing at the mouth.
Suddenly Murasame shot up off his chair, and jumped onto the table.
"I'll do it!" he proclaimed, shouting up to the very heavens as he tightly clenched his fist to his sides, "I'll be a rabbit! Just call me 'Bunny Boy'!"
Debbie was sure it was just her imagination, but it almost seemed like fire burst all around his body when he made that claim.
Awkward silence filled the district as everyone in attendance just stared at the young man in bewilderment, who just panted heavily from up top of the table.
"Complete…weirdo," Debbie heard Howard whisper to Randy.
"Tell me about it," an unfamiliar female voice whispered back.
Blinking, Debbie turned to look toward the source of the voice, and to her slight surprise saw the blonde-wavy-haired girl from before.
She was standing with a laid-back posture, her left leg slightly bent, as she had her hand behind her head…which, much to Debbie's slight annoyance, made her already large breast more pronounced. Her expression was overall neutral with both eyebrows raised.
Standing next to her was the ravenette girl who was also competing in the contest. She, for some reason, looked concerned, and her shoulders were slightly slumped as she looked at Murasame.
Next to them were both Howard and Randy. The former had an unamused expression while the latter had a perplexed frown with a raised eyebrow.
At first Debbie thought the four of them were together, but it didn't seem like either of the pairs really acknowledged the other's presence.
"Hey, isn't that you're brother Ikuraga?" the blonde asked, to which the ravenette simply let out an exasperated sigh.
'So her name is Ikuraga huh?' Debbie mentally noted as she racked her brain at the familiar name, 'I know I've heard that name from somewhere.'
"Man, if I had a brother like that, I would rather crawl in a hole and never come out," Howard said with a laugh.
Upon hearing that, Ikuraga buried her face in the palms of her hands and groaned.
'Their siblings?' Debbie thought with a raised brow as she looked between both the raven-haired girl and the young man on the stage, 'I don't see much of a resemblance.'
"Along with a lifetime supply of McFizzles and the entire series of Grave Puncher?" Randy asked with a deadpan, more of a statement than a question.
"Of course," Howard admitted without a hint of shame.
Debbie couldn't help but roll her eyes at their banter, which unfortunately pulled her away from her attempt at recalling where she recognized the raven-haired girl from.
And before she could try to recall again, Heidi started the countdown for the start of the round, "Alrighty you hungry bunnies, it's time to get hopping!"
At that, both Yomi and Murasame immediately began consuming the cabbage cores.
As soon as she took the first bite of the core, Yomi's face morphed into one of pure bliss. Debbie couldn't help but be taken aback by this as she continued to watch the girl eagerly chow down the vegetables.
…
'She's really enjoying those,' Debbie thought with a raised eyebrow, surprised to see someone enjoying what is essentially scraps.
And at the pace she was devouring those, she was likely to finish the dish in no time at all.
Shifting her attention to the other participant, Debbie sweatdropped at what she saw.
Apparently also coming to the same conclusion as Debbie had, Murasame was just stuffing cores into his mouth. Inhaling the cores as opposed to taking the time to bite down on them.
'He does know he needs to breathe right?' Debbie mentally asked herself with a deadpan expression.
Sure enough, it wasn't long until Murasame began to choke on the cabbage cores. His hands clawed at the cores stuffed in his mouth in an effort to dislodge at least some of them to allow air into his lungs.
However, as much as he tried none of the cores came loose, and eventually his face began to turn blue. In a last-ditch effort, Murasame began to bang on his chest repeatedly as if that could help with his predicament.
But sure enough, it didn't.
Finally succumbing to oxygen deprivation, Murasame's eyes rolled back into his head and he fell face-first onto the table.
Debbie merely rolled her eyes as she shook her head in exasperation, before returning her attention back to the blonde contestant.
Who apparently was oblivious to what just happened right next to her, as Yomi continued to eat her cabbage cores in pure complete bliss.
She remained lost in ecstasy until her fingers tapped on her now-empty plate.
Blinking a few times the blonde girl looked down at her plate, before smiling and putting her hands together as if in prayer.
"That was delicious," she said in thanks.
"And we have our first winner!" Heidi announced as she grabbed and raised Yomi's right hand up high, "Yomi advances onto the next round while the loser hops away in defeat."
Murasame only let out a few choke gurgles at that, still unconscious.
"Well if he wakes up anyway."
"Brother!" ikuraga exclaimed in worry, as she rushes to her sibling's side. She was surprisingly quick, as she was by her brother's side and dislodging the cores from his mouth rather quickly.
Debbie figured she must have been part of a tracks team.
After dislodging enough of the cabbage cores, Murasame let out wet coughs as air was reintroduced into his lungs. He let out a groan as he lifted his face off the table.
'He recovered fast,' Debbie mentally commented.
"what happened, did I win!?" He asked as he looked from side to side, as if he was expecting a miracle.
Debbie couldn't help but roll her eyes at the dumb question.
'You didn't even finish one core before passing out, why would you think you won in the slightest?'
"You lost you honking shoob!" Howard shouted out before his laughter began to assault Debbie's ears, "oh man you should have seen your face. You looked like a chimp muck, hahahaha!"
"Shut up!" Murasame shouted back at the orange-haired teen, his face turning slightly red. Whether by anger or embarrassment, Debbie didn't know, "there's no way I've lost, you short fatso with tiny hands!"
"Hey!" Howard shouted back in clear offense, "just so you know, my hands are delicate."
"That's what you're upset about," Debbie heard the girl with wavy blonde hair mutter in confusion.
What expression she had, Debbie didn't know as she was more focused on what was happening up on stage.
"Actually my loser brother is right, you did lose," Heidi clarified, causing the older man to stare at her in shock.
"Wh-what!? No way!" He exclaimed, clear in denial, "There's no way I lost, especially this early on!"
"Well, you did you shoob!"
"I said shut up you dainty hand fatso!"
"They're delicate!"
"Brother, that's enough," Ikuraga said softly, as she stretched out a hand in what seemed like an attempt to calm her brother down.
Murasame suddenly and viciously slapped her hand away.
"Don't touch me!" he demanded with a snarl, glaring at the younger girl with pure hatred in his eyes.
"Brother…" she said softly, her tone and expression showing she was clearly hurt.
"No one but my real family may lay a hand on me!"
After that sharp remark, Murasame ran off the stage and dashed out of sight.
"Yikes, family drama,' Debbie thought to herself as she watched the scene. Apparently, for whatever reason Murasame seemed to hate his younger sister with a passion.
Or supposed younger sister, if she took what Murasame said into consideration.
And after seeing the both of them side by side…Debbie still couldn't see a resemblance, which only supported what he said regarding him and Ikuraga not being related.
The only thing that Debbie could conclude with certainty was that there was some kind of change in the family dynamic, and Murasame believed it was (or it very well could be) somehow Ikuraga's fault.
However, Heidi's voice pulled Debbie from her thoughts before she could think any deeper into the subject.
"A-any way…" Heidi spoke up, trying to regain her bearings after witnessing the harsh interaction between "siblings", "Let's continue on with our next contestants."
Ikuraga clenches her lips and goes to her place in the B-Block stage as the next round begins.
"You got this Ikaruga!" The energetic blonde cheered as Ikuraga took her seat next to her opponent, as more cabbage cores were brought out.
The moment the round started, Ikuraga immediately began to chow down on the cabbage cores.
"Go, Ikuraga!"
With her friend's encouragement the ravennette stuffs her face full of cabbage cores. But unlike her "brother", she went at a pace where she wouldn't end up suffocating by the cores.
"Keep it upl You can't quit now!"
Ikuraga eats daintily, but not without speed.
Bite by bite, she pulls ahead of her opponent.
"Mm! Mmogh!"
It wasn't long until she reached the last few remaining cores on her plate. As she finishes the last core, she delicately wipes her mouth with a napkin.
Debbie couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in surprise. She was kind of honest, she didn't think the ravenette would win. she seemed too...eloquent for this type of event.
"Woohoo! Ikaruga!" The ravenette's blonde friend cheered as she brought her fist up into the air, "Let me reward you with a nice massage!"
Debbie frowned with slight disgust as the blonde began to make groping gestures with her hands, and an obvious lecherous grin grew on her face. Clearly she was thinking of something inappropriate.
"I'm fine, thank you!" Ikuraga refused both quickly and sharply, the annoyed expression on her face more than enough evidence to confirm what Debbie was thinking.
Why someone like Ikuraga was friends with such a pervert, Debbie didn't know.
It was then Howard's turn, which ended in almost an instant when the short chubby boy merely poured the cabbage cores into his mouth before swallowing them all in one go.
He then immediately began clutching at his stomach as if he was in pain.
"Ugh, I ate too much healthy stuff," he whined, as the grumbling of his stomach was heard by the entire audience.
"Seriously!" a person that sounded like Murasame shouted out, anger clearly evident in his voice, "How the hell can that fatso with tiny hands do that, but I can't!?"
"My hands are delicate, you honking shoob!" Howard yelled back, equally annoyed, before he once again clutched at his stomach, "Ugh, I need junk food stat."
Debbie Kang couldn't help but let out an exasperated sigh. So far the only thing that the young journalist found interesting at this event was the raven-haired girl, but that alone wasn't front page worthy.
Or even side articles worthy.
She silently hoped that something scoop worthy would happen.
Nothing major, like say one of those kaiju attacks Japan was known for, or an alien invasion, or the embodiment of evil awakening and corrupting the world.
She wasn't that desperate to put herself in life threatening situations just for a scoop.
Not like that tabloid in Paris who runs the ladyblog.
But she hoped for something more interesting than doing a report on the winner of some eating contest.
AN: Oh man, I'm so sorry it took me so long to post this! I've kind of fallen into a writer's funk, and it doesn't help that I have a hard time focusing. That and I've also got a gaming channel as well.
So anyway, it looks like the Nomicon is going to help Hibari with her ninja training as a means to somehow get back to the ninja.
To amyone who managed to figure this out, congratulations. You just won a cookie.
Meanwhile Debbie seems to have taken a bit of an interest in ikuraga. I wonder why.
…
Oh, wait I'm the author, I do know why.
…
…
…
…this isn't going to end well is it?
The second half of this chapter has kind of gotten split in half as it was getting too long, and I really wanted to post another chapter.
Anyway, leave a review as any critique will be greatly appreciated. see you guys in the next chapter.