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Shinobu watched the somewhat surprised, somewhat relieved Melora began to nuzzle into the bed that was there.

She took in a deep sigh, for a moment to watch her and make sure things would be peaceful, that Melora would stay to her bed. And after a moment of the young child's doze, she turned and began to leave.

Halfway, a thought entered her head.

What if someone finds Melora here? I shouldn't leave... Shinobu turned, looking back at the child. But... against my better reasoning, I really want to get going. I want Melora to be safe... but I also want...

A image of Haru appeared in her head, and she hastily shook it away.

"I'm needed in the kitchens!" she proclaimed, thus quickly recieving a hard bite on the tounge from herself, amazed that she could be so stupid to shout around a sleeping, and possible dangerous, child.

Damnit. Those things Haru does to me without him even knowing it!!

Shinobu shook her head and took out the scroll from before, it was blank now, but she had an idea of what lay upon it before. A protection justu, one of many formulae that she knew well from her years of shinobi training. Perhaps she could think back to those days and make something similiar to keep the door to the room shut for an hour or two, so that Melora could atleast gain some of the sleep she needed.

~~~

She pressed the paper slowly to the door, using her short, but strong, fingernails to press the corners down firmly. The sloppy hiragana read 'do not disturb'. Which, undoubtedly, caused a slight chuckle from Shinobu.

She turned and hurried back down the stairs.

For once, I really hope I bump into Haru! She though, grinning inwardly.

[Come on guys, that's cute. It may not be a jutsu, but it can be just as effective... maybe... sweatdrop ]

"Yulikun!" Rikku said as she turned towards Yul asnd ran over to him in the kitchen. Rikku saw she was no longer needed to help Izumo so she decided to see what was wrong with Yul. She noticed that he hurt himself a bit however nothing to bad mainly because of his immortality. "Are you alright?" She asked dumbly forgetting that everyone was immortal. She then rubbed the back of her head. "Ooooo my bad, Yulikun is immortal Rikkuchan keeps forgetting! Rikkuchan is so silly sometimes!" She said when she got to him. "Is something bothering you? You are staring out of the window and not paying attention to to your work." She said looking up to him. She was obviously smaller making her unable to notice somethings that he could.

Fai listened to him as he spoke, watching him do whatever it was he was doing, before a soft, slow smile covered his face. "You're not the only one that has no one to protect, Haru," he said gently. "A lot of the thieves don't. A lot of us don't understand; some of us are even lost, just like you." He then stood up, looking at him. "Take things at your own pace, and don't try to hurry things up so that everything is impossible. Once in a while, stop and take in the scenery. Whatever you have planned to do for your future isn't going everywhere."

He smiled a little. "We have all eternity, right?" He said, chuckling a little at the slightly dark irony in that sentence. "Why don't you come inside? It's cold and wet out here. And even though we're immortal, doesn't mean we can't catch a cold, even for the briefest of moments."

[Oy, f_ck? Haru's inside now? Eg, just pretend Yul's rambling was whilst Haru was still outside.]

Yul grinned down at Rikku, beaming at her lively attitude and her foolish yet admirable show of concern for him.

He patted her head, ruffling her pink locks slightly, still grinning. "Naw, nothing at all, I'm just off in another place today. Why don't you come help me, I think Izumo's getting ahead of the rest of us with cooking."

My troubles are not even my own, so there's no point in burdening them upon others, I'm one to help others bear their problems, not attract attention to myself. It's a role I... sort of came up for myself on my own. But it's logical, it's real.

[Thanks a million there, Nitemare. You know, we really missed you while you were gone, you've allways been so dedicated, it's great to have you back, and you're really helpful.]

Aoki tilted her head, Riku was right, Yul did seem throubled. Izumo however was waiting for them to finish their own meal, and Aoki quickly took to placing her toppings on the dish, smilling.

"Kays, I'm done Izuichi."

A floaty and bubbly air seemed to radiate off of Aoki. She was going to spend a lot more time with many more thieves than she usually did. Aoki purred as she quickly got out of everyone's way and quietly watched as Rikku offered Yul help, Aoki didn't do anything to make herself more of a bother to him than she already had.

She noticed he was staring at her, and all Aoki did was blink dumbly, smile and wave. "Oh wait, is there flour on my face again!" Aoki tried wipping her face with her sleeves, checking often to see if there was any white powder on her kimono.

"Alrighty then," Izumo said, flipping the okonomiyaki that was in the pan at the moment. "One plain dish, coming up. Kinda boring though..."

Caught between trying to grab a dish and making sure the dish in the pan didn't burn, Izumo hardly managed to grab a stack of dishes without dropping them in concern for the okonomiyaki in the pan. He had seen the smallest hint of smoke, or steam he supposed, and was dead set against letting it singe, even a little. He flipped it out onto a dish, just in time it seemed. Piping hot, but no signs of a burn, close though.

"Fai, here's yours... and..." Izumo trailed off, adding more of the mix to his pan. It was cooking nicely, and he was enjoying himself, for once in the last while.

It was ready to have any extras added, or to be served plain, if it was so.

"Ok, Aoki, you can gimme whatever you want add--" he stopped mid-sentence. Aoki had tossed her toppings on with just the slightest hint of the okonomiyaki being hers.

"Heh, either you're really hungry, or just a tad to excited," he mumbled to himself. "I mean, I'm just cooking a meal, not like the circus or anything..."

(( PS. What the heck is Izuichi? Did she:
a) Mess up his name, or;
b) Make fun of him [again]? ))
((Nickname Rikku made up. Rubbed off on her. ))