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Honehime nodded when Shuku said that she wouldn't be any trouble. She still wasn't entirely sure just why it was her that was apparently in charge, but if so, she would simply have to make the best of it, and try to do a good job. She looked over at Mei when Shuku pointed to her with a thumb, and nodded once more when Shuku said that she would have to keep an eye on her. From the little she had already seen, the cow girl seemed to have the mental maturity of a child, no doubt that was why she would need someone to watch out for her. Not really the most normal sort to try to become a ninja. But then again, what was normal?
(10401 words + 129 words = 10530 words)


Lieselotte walked a few more steps before finally answering Sakazuki's question. Since they were in an unfamiliar location, and there was no apparent sign of their quarry, but they were not likely in any true danger, she felt the search wouldn't have to be anything very large. "Not far, perhaps a 'alf mile in eizzer direction." With that question answered, she resumed her trek, marching forward at a steady pace. Surprisingly, Sakazuki didn't seem to be in the mood to tease, although she seemed a little impatient. Was she waiting for something?
(10427 words + 95 words = 10522 words)


Mei wasn't paying all that close of attention to Honehime and Shuku, but even if she had, it was highly unlikely that she would have noticed that the two of them seemed to be in agreement upon her being juvenile, regardless of how mature her body was. Instead, she was focused on getting the last bit of stew out of her bowl. She was so focused on that task, in fact, that she currently had the bowl pressed against her face, as she tried to stick her tongue out far enough to get every last drop. She moved her head side to side a little, in the hopes that that might somehow help her succeed. As she did, she looked up at the other too every so often, but they were just talking. Boring grown up stuff, no doubt. Nothing that involved her.
(10921 words + 144 words = 11065 words)

Honehime watched the other two for a while longer, before finally finishing her own bowl of stew. Setting it down, she shifted to a slightly more comfortable position and simply enjoyed the relative quiet and the warmth of the still crackling and snapping fire. Her clothes had already dried out, with the exception of some slight spots of damp where the cloth had bunched up, but those spots had already at least been warmed through by a combination of the fire and her own body heat, so they weren't too unpleasant. She glanced away from camp, wondering if Lieselotte and Sakazuki would manage to find the others.
(10530 words + 108 words = 10638 words)


When Sakazuki incredulously asked if she had really mean a half mile. She didn't reply, not feeling it necessary to say that yes she was. She continued moving forward into the dark forest for a while longer, even after the Circe raised her second question. She sighed, knowing that the lack of teasing would not have been likely to last much longer. It had been a nice hop, but ultimately futile. She gathered her thoughts, and tried her best to not let the other girl's teasing parody of her accent wear on her nerves. "Zey seem fairly esoteric, but zey seem harmless enough. I don't believe zey are fit to call zemselves ninja, not just yet."
(10522 words + 119 words = 10641 words)


Mei finally pulled the bowl away from her mouth, revealing a wide oval of what was hopefully saliva around her lips. She set the bowl down and then looked over at Shuku at her comment about possibly getting fat. She shook her head vigorously, making her bovine ears waggle lightly as she did. "No I won't! I just get really hungry, I think my chest has a tummy of it's own!" She laughed a little, sending a few slight vibrations through that very same body part that she had just mentioned. Both of them. She smiled a little more after she was done laughing, and looked at her bowl, considering another bowl of stew. At the very least, she should wait until everyone else had returned, there was still a person or two who hadn't even had firsts yet, let alone anything beyond that! So she would have to wait.
(11065 words + 153 words = 11218 words)

Liesel strode up to the academy, before looking it over. A simple enough design, the people who had designed the building hadn't sought to be inventive or clever. All that they had intended was functionality. She could respect that. As a blacksmith herself, she understood very well that the primary goal of any artisan was to make something of good quality, that would remain even after they had moved on. Why should architecture be any different? She finally entered the building, taking a closer look at some of the design elements of the interior. Several people looked at her curiously, but she ignored them, lost in her self assigned task of inspecting the building. She was supposed to be attending classes in the arts of the ninja here, but frankly, she was more interested in the building itself. She wondered for a moment if she could find the person who had designed the academy, but based on the wear of the floors and a few other signs, the building had been constructed long ago, long enough that the one who had designed it was likely already dead. But their creation still stood tall, a testament to their skill and inspiration. She took one more look around, and made her decision. She had no desire to stay here and sit through lectures and practice ninjutsu. She was a blacksmith, and that was what she wanted to learn about! Staying here, there would be very little to appeal to her artisan's soul, so instead, she would simply go somewhere else. Even if she never became a proficient ninja, she could still use this very brief time spent here as an excuse to claim the typical ninja exception to the various countries' laws and immigration standards. With the dubious title of ninja, she would be much more likely to be allowed into certain locations, locations that she never would have been able to enter as a simple artisan. But with the title being self ascribed, then that left the small matter of the famed headband. She wondered if she could simply ask an instructor for a headband, but then a better solution struck her. She was an artisan, a crafter of metal. Why not just make her own headband? Surely, it would be of a higher quality than any mass produced versions made for the less metallurgical minded? Yes, that would work just fine. With that decided, she took one more look at the academy for future reference, and then took her leave.
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Honehime continued to watch the other girls' exchange, nodding from time to time. She hadn't expected the young cow girl to take that offhanded comment as criticism, but now that she thought about it, she supposed it sort of fit her image, at least from a mental standpoint. She spoke up finally, adding to what Shuku said to reassure the bovine girl. "Yes, your size is bigger than most girls ever get, but it just means you are different, not abnormal. Don't worry." She nodded, and couldn't help from looking at Mei's chest for a moment, before looking at her own vastly smaller bust.
(10747 words + 108 words = 10855 words)


"Maybe not, but when has zat ever stopped anyone from saying what zey wanted?" Lieselotte countered with the fact that even though people generally did not have any right to judge others, they still invariably did so. It was simply human nature. To talk about others, to spot their own failings in order to make themselves feel better. Or simply to gossip about others. People just enjoyed talking about other people. She glanced over at Sakazuki, wondering if the Circe would ask why she actually was there.
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Mei's frown slowly softened as Shuku and Honehime's words began to lift her mood. Finally she offered up a smile. A bit soft, but a smile nonetheless. She felt better now. And chances were that in a few minutes, she would probably completely forget about why she was sad, anyways. She couldn't help but laugh a little when Shuku said that her chest might draw people to her, although it was more an embarrassed chuckle more than anything. If she was a bigger thinker, she might have made some clever comment about her chest drawing others to her because it possessed it's own gravitational pull. She giggled again when Shuku poked her chest and made her comment about Mei raising kids. She couldn't even imagine what it would be like to have a child, let alone taking care of one. That was probably a good thing, as ditzy as she was, who knows what could happen if she were to be a parent? So she smiled once more, flashing thankful grins to both of the others. "Okay, I feel better now, thank you."
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Honehime looked up once more when she felt something poke against her leg. She saw that it was Shuku's foot, and followed it up her leg, up her body, until she was looking at Shuku. She knew that what the older woman said was true, but compared to the two of them, feelings of inadequacy seemed perfectly normal to her. Both of them had gotten the lion's share in the development of their chests, while she was still virtually undeveloped. Yes, it was true she was still young, and the other two had extenuating circumstances, but that didn't make it any easier to deal with.
(10855 words + 108 words = 10963 words)


Lieselotte didn't answer Sakazuki for a long moment, wondering exactly how she should answer the question. Should she lie, or opt for the truth. And if she told the truth, how much? In the end, she made a compromise with herself. She would tell Sakazuki the truth, at least as much as she felt able to. "Harm? From me, no, I mean none of you ill. But ze ones who sent me, I cannot say what zeir intentions are." That was the truth, she didn't know why they wanted her to gather information on the instructors and other students at the Academy. If her instincts were correct, they didn't have any overtly hostile intentions, but then again, she could be wrong.
(10945 words + 124 words = 11069 words)


Mei followed Shuku's line of sight to see Honehime looking down at her own chest. In what was, for the ditzy cow girl, a remarkable act of insight, she was able to grasp at least the majority of the reason why the young Kaguya looked rather put out. She wanted to try to help lift her mood, after all, the Kaguya had just done the same to help her. Trying to think of something to say,s he eventually ended up with a slightly accurate statement. Whether it would actually help cheer Honehime up or not, she didn't know, but she hoped so. "Plus, having big boobs isn't always good, they make it hard to find clothes and sometimes they give you back trouble." She nodded at that. She was a strong girl, much stronger than she would appear to be, but even so, there were days that her back gave her trouble, protesting loudly over having to support her large chest constantly, day in and day out. Of course, wearing a bra would likely help, but sometimes it was virtually impossible to find anything even close to her size. Never mind the fact that her size increased by a noticeable margin even throughout the day, then reduced when she finally got milked. Because of that, it was hard to tell if wearing a bra was even a good idea, with as often as she would have to take it off, just to get milked. She had yet to think of another solution, but that was hardly a surprise, was it?
(11570 words + 264 words = 11834 words)

Honehime looked from Shuku to Mei and back again, listening as the two of them told her a little about what it was like to have a bigger chest. She wasn't sure if she believed them, or if they were just saying what they were to make her feel better. But it did seem to make sense, so she decided to believe them. If what they said was true, then having big breasts wasn't all a bed of roses. If so, then she supposed she could give it time before she truly got depressed over her smaller size. They were right, she was still growing, and while she might not ever get as big as either of them, hopefully it would all still be okay.
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Listening as Sakazuki asked again if what Lieselotte was doing was a threat to the others. She thought some more about it, wondering if the information she was gathering could possibly be used against her current companions. It was possible, but why would her employers want to know about them, let alone do anything about them? She stopped moving forward and turned to look back at Sakazuki, still able to see her enough to read her body language, even in the low light. She could tell that, for once, Sakazuki seemed serious, deadly so. She sighed, and decided she'd have to tell her a little more, possibly more than would be wise. "Yes, zat could well be the case, but I doubt it. None of you should be considered a danger to the one who sent me. As for why, it is a job, nuzzing more."
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Mei nodded, relieved that Honehime seemed to be accepting what they were saying. The younger girl didn't look quite as depressed as before, so maybe that meant she would be okay. At last for now. A moment later, Mei surprised herself with an enormous yawn, not realizing that she was beginning to get sleepy. She looked around, and realized there weren't any beds. She did see Shuku pull a blanket out of her pack. Of course, she herself didn't have much of anything, she had been all set to go to the Academy, so she hadn't thought to bring anything for extended periods of time in the wild. But she was somewhat resourceful, and she had skills that left her fairly adaptable. Mei got to her feet and looked around, beginning to walk a little as she tried to think. The others could practically see the gears slowly turning in her head. Finally, a moment later, she landed on the idea that Kuroshika had had before, using her alchemy to make something for them to slip on or in. Not bothering to say what her plan was or think of any ramifications, she walked over to a tree just outside of their camp, and gathered her strength. Using a combination of her own surprising physical strength, and a technique she had learned from her time at home, she threw a powerful punch nto the trunk of the tree. A moment later, hundreds of leaves fell to the ground, knocked loose by the impact. She did this to a few more trees, and then crouched down, sketching a circle in the dirt around the leaf piles. Once activated, the alchemy would bind the leaves together into an impromptu and relatively comfortable leafy mattress. She then followed that up by using alchemy on the grass, making it grow and weave together to make several blankets. Stacking the various objects together, she dragged them back to camp, to share with everyone else.
(11834 words + 333 words = 12167 words)