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Walking along one of the paths through a park with many trees, Kiew held a wide, flat umbrella in one hand and a paper fan in the other. Delicately waving the fan before her face, the girl sighed lightly. She was used to hot summers as they were little different where she came from, but the Bombay felt like she was absolutely dieing from the humidity. Although short-sleeved, the heavy brocade clothing she wore did nothing to help keep her cool. Wandering beneath a large tree that cast a deep shadow, she quietly backed up against the trunk and folded her umbrella away to sit it next to herself. Bright ember eyes glanced at her surroundings as the paper fan kept pumping a steady current of air towards her flushed face. A breeze picked up, blowing the few damp, whispy bangs from her face momentarily; it felt good. With a small smile, Kiew withdrew a book from under her arm, the cover brightly colored with an image of human girls with big eyes, and sat down to read for a while.

Not particularly fond of the heat of summer herself, the girl reasoned that it was easier to deal with if one allowed their mind to be occupied with other things, other far-away places. Reading about a wintery, snow-covered place didn't exactly hurt either. On autopilot, her hand continued to fan her face as she lost herself in the pictures and speech bubbles of the characters on the pages before her. There she settled in silence, enjoying the slightly cooler temperatures of the shady tree and the manga in her paws. It wasn't until some time later that the girl began to acknowledge another sound somewhere nearby, a rather persistent and irritating 'schnik, schnik.' One jet-black ear flicked backward, casting off whatever had just landed on it. Placing a paw on her page, the girl sighed and turned to see what it had been, reaching out to mess with the small wood shaving in mild curiosity. "What in the world...?" She murred softly, turning her eyes upward when another shaving landed on her head. What she saw was a boy, older than she was, doing... something up above her. For a moment, the small black Bombay simply watched him uncertainly, then she flexed her claws and began slowly climbing the trunk to get a better look. Quietly climbing up closer, she didn't say anything to the boy. She really wasn't interested in him as much as she was in what he was doing to make the wood shavings fall.

Without reservation, Kiew climbed up so that she was sitting parallel to the other cat, a branch or so away from him. she was very careful with how she maneuvered herself through the tree, delicately picking her way so as not to snag the intricate and beautiful brocade patterns on her blue silken clothes. Settling herself on the branch, she allowed her long black tail to hang below and fixed both fiery eyes on the piece of wood cradled in the older boy's hand. Her ears lifted slightly to acknowledge that he spoke to her, but she didn't say anything immediately. Instead, her brows scrunched together in mild confusion. The piece of wood wasn't taking any particular shape, simply being withered away instead. She didn't understand the purpose of his chore at all, and was a little disappointed that she hadn't discovered something amazing being created by his paws. Well, chance meetings did not always produce amazing results, she argued to herself. This was not a manga, after all; and apparently this would not be her prince charming encounter either. Oh well.

Finally shifting her gaze to take in his masked face, she tilted her head a little and let her confused expression relax again. "I believe you might be the one who is being disturbed right now," She mewed with a quiet, even tone, her voice light in pitch and sounding very much like a girl younger even than she appeared, "you may relax, you know. My intent is not to disturb you. I simply wanted to see what it was you were doing up here. I must say that my curiosity went unrewarded, however." Taking a moment to shift herself into a slightly more comfortable position, she indicated the stick in his paws and continued, "You are wasting it's potential that way. Rather than turning it into something useful or beautiful, you prefer to simply whittle away at it's flesh. What is it that you intend to do with your pointed stick once you've forced it into the perfection you seek?" Although it was nothing to look at, the girl had not missed out on how deliberately the Korat was working the piece of wood. For the most part, it was perfectly symmetrical on all sides, very meticulously calculated. For the quiet observer, his hobby was speaking volumes about his character, yet his motives remained mysterious to her.

Kiew twitched her tail up into a little curl as he pointed out the true definition of disturbing someone and let a small smile spread over her lips. "My, when you put it that way, I suppose my intent certainly would come off as such, wouldn't it?" She leaned forward a little, to watch closely as he shaved off another sliver of wood, "And yet, you uttered the first words, didn't you?" Her bright orange eyes were laughing as she glanced again at his curiously covered face and indifferent gaze. "Even so, I did have the option of not responding, didn't I? Well, in any case, I'm here now and I believe we can safely say that both of us have aided in initiating conversation, yes?" Resting her hands against the bark of the trunk lightly, the girl slowly shifted a few branches closer to the male to better watch him work. He was quickly becoming more interesting than the characters in her latest romance manga had been. Settling again with her head in her paws, the Bombay tilted her ears forward. "You seem to possess a lot of wisdom and knowledge, and you dress like the perfect Japanese ninja-- Oh, they're called 'shinobi' here, aren't they? You already have your throwing knives, it seems, so what will you use that stick's discovered potential for then?"

Kiew's lips curled up a little more when he acknowledged being shinobi, and she flicked her tail at his following comment. "Modesty, huh? Well, that certainly fits the character." Blinking brightly colored eyes at the stick offered to her, she wasn't exactly sure what to do at first. It was the first time she had been offered what could be called a gift -- although, in this boy's case, it was probably something more like he was bored with it and no longer wanted it, or was trying to get her to leave. After a moment, she leaned forward and gingerly accepted it, pulling back with her new object to admire it, running her fingers along it's length and experimentally testing it's sharpened tip with the point of her finger. "Thank you." She mewed after completing her inspection of it, turning her eyes back to the boy with another small smile as she set the stick in her lap, using both hands to gather up her long, straight black hair. Grabbing up the sharpened stick again, she worked it into her hair until it was holding it up off her neck in a somewhat messy bun. "I will accept your gift. It might serve as something useful for a future event. Also, you would be correct in your assumption. I am not Japanese, my humans brought me over from the mainland." A tendril of hair slipped from the bun, falling over her shoulder as her smile turned a little sly, "Since you seem interested in my origins, maybe you should learn my name as well? It's Kiew, and what might the wise, stoic shinobi be called?" Hanging beneath the branch she was on, her tail began to sway gently.

Kiew's ears lifted erect when the tom started talking, nearly giddy inside at his use of Japanese. Once he was past the introductions, however, he seemed to fall into some sort of trance. The information was... informative, but it was awkwardly stiff. The girl stifled a small giggle; he was very formal. "Ah, thank you for that," She began a bit uncertainly, her face still lit up with a grin, "I'll be certain to stay well away from this Ruins area, and I shall seek you out should I catch any lawbreakers." The Bombay was unusually comfortable talking with this cat, probably because he seemed just as detached and formal as she was. With a flick of her long black tail, the girl put a finger to her chin and tipped her head slightly, "Now... You gave your name in Japanese style, so I'm to assume that Takashi is your first name... and Itou is your last? My... I don't even remember what last name my humans had given me, it's been a while since we left China." Fingering the colorful book she held in her hands for a moment, Kiew fell silent. It wasn't often she admitted something about herself to another cat. He may be a cool Japanese Shinobi, but she really needed to be mindful of her tongue, lest she finds herself forming a bond with this cat. Ember eyes burned holes into the cover of the book until finally she raised them back to the tom before her with a calm, static smile much like the one she wore when she first addressed him. "Do you read at all, Mr. Itou? Books like this maybe?" Holding up the book, she watched him for his answer; although, her demeanor had shifted slightly, carefully hiding behind a wall.

Kiew blinked at the cat for his response. It made sense that his last name would be his family name... but if it didn't belong to his humans, than what family would that be? Cat's weren't notorious for sticking close to their kin after all. Kiew herself didn't have any idea where her parents or siblings were. She had given up what feline family she had when her humans adopted her. Suddenly, the tom moved to climb higher into the branches of the tree, and the Bombay looked down at the children as they came scampering by. She was unconcerned about them. Although she vowed not to enter another human home unless it was that of her young lady, it was a known fact that humans didn't climb trees particularly well. With a dainty shrug, she carefully climbed up after him and made herself comfortable in the leafier canopy. Curling her tail over the branch she was on, the girl looked over Takashi again and spoke slowly, "What do you read, if not Manga?" The only other reading material that the young black cat had been exposed to were the stories her human would read to the both of them before she went to sleep.

Kiew nodded a little as he talked, her orangey gaze sweeping across his facial features. He spoke easily of his feline family, and though he didn't mention where they were at that moment, it was clear that he had kept an attachment to his parents. For a moment, the Bombay almost felt jealous of that, and briefly wondered about her own family. "Were you raised on stories of Shinobi?" She asked suddenly. Aside from the gruesome scar across his eye and the mask concealing most of his face, Kiew decided that this boy had a very gentle fineness about him that could have nearly passed for a girl's. He very much reminded her of the heroes she would read about in her graphic novels and spurred her interest. She wanted to know more about this strange new cat. "Were your parents also shinobi?" Both sleek, black ears sat upright, and her eyes gleamed with curiosity that was only barely masked by her contained, polite smile. Only once did it lightly cross her mind that she might be prying into this tom's life in a manner that would be considered forceful or rude. She probably wouldn't have answered her own questions had they been posed to her by a stranger.