Reckless Reading [Closed]

[Shinomiya Akari]

Shinomiya had nothing to do today. That wasn't for lack of trying, of course; she'd been pursuing missions to the best of her ability, and training incessantly at almost all other times. Yet, there was only so much work it was possible for her to do, and her chakra reserves were not truly unlimited. So, with her body unable to endure anything else, she'd made her way to the library nearest to her house. Of course, there were other, larger libraries in Sunagakure, but just because they contained more things didn't mean they contained everything. Not to mention, she didn't want to walk that far, while she was this tired.

However, the young Genin did not have an objective in mind, beyond simply the library itself. As such, she flitted from shelf to shelf like a lost spirit, letting her crystalline red eyes take in everything as she hunted for things that took her fancy. A book on genjutsu, which she'd been meaning to brush up on. A couple of advanced texts on ninjutsu she hadn't checked out before. Her small, frail-looking arms were already laden with books by the time she passed over to the fictional book section, at which point she collected several more acquisitions. With a loud thud and a heavy sigh of relief, Shinomiya placed her tower of books down at the nearest desk before sitting down and selecting one at random. Taking a deep breath, the young girl focused what was left of her chakra reserves, concentrating on her eyes and her mind. She froze completely, save for the rapid movement of her sharp eyes and the periodic turning of pages; if not for her hair colour, she could almost have been mistaken for an Uchiha, at the rate she was reading.

 

[Suzuki Suzume]

The library wasn't usually Suzume's place of choice. She enjoyed learning new things, of course, but a book that could actually catch her interest and keep her reading was very rare, so there was usually no point in her coming here. Today, however, she needed a new manual to start studying from, at the behest of her teacher, and so browsing until she found it was what she was gonna do today.

Well, unless something else caught her eye, which something, or someone else definitely did. Suzume wasn't very attached to her classmates from her academy days, but she at least enjoyed making friends a lot and seeing a familiar face always made her excited, kinda like a puppy. So as she caught that silver hair and quiet demeanor in her sights, she set into a... casual speedwalk, because she wasn't hyperactive enough to break into a sprint over something like this.

"Shinono-san!" Suzume greeted the other genin by leaning down to look at her face while she was reading. "Hi!" She waved her hand energetically, balancing now on one leg while smiling widely at Shinomiya. As far as she knew, the other girl had graduated a year before she did, so Suzume was definitely excited to hear what she'd been up to during that time.

 

[Shinomiya Akari]

The book she'd chosen, almost entirely by coincidence, had been a fictional one. Though as soon as she'd opened it, she'd realised it had been a good idea; after all, she was tired, so taking it easy with something relaxing was the better idea, compared to delving right into hard work. At least, that was the theory she had been taught again and again... in practice, it was different for Shinomiya, although her feelings were not so strong that she noticed them. For the machine-like girl, taking in information was more or less the same regardless of what it was, and what form it came in didn't make too much difference either. Yet either way, the process itself was relaxing to her, and so she continued. Today had all the makings of a wonderful day, both productive and pleasurable.

However, that notion failed to account for Shinomiya's truly atrocious luck. In general, she could be considered average, or even above-average; her parents were alive, she'd lived a peaceful childhood, and there were no major sources of suffering in her life overall. Yet, in that moment, the disruption of her peaceful afternoon and her trance-like state of mind was enough to warrant despair, raising questions about what horrible sins she'd committed in some past life to deserve this pain. Or at least, that was what it felt like to Shinomiya, almost.

The white-haired girl raised her head, staring with her blank, lifeless eyes at Suzume. She was entirely unsure what to think of the name the other girl had used; it was better than being called by her first name, but it was also entirely ridiculous, yet at the same time at least she'd been polite enough to use an honorific. All together, was it a familiar or unfamiliar way of addressing people? Shinomiya wasn't sure, and that was what displeased her. She tilted her head to the side, and said the first thing that came to mind without a second thought.

"Oh, you're not dead."

It was an earnest comment. Shinomiya may not have had any interest in other people, but her precise memory let her identify Suzume all the same. Her eyes swept the other girl briefly, rapidly leading to her second comment. "No headband. Still in the academy, or did you leave it at home?" It was a fine enough placeholder, to buy time while she recalled more about the other girl.