<span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: palatino;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 10pt;">Sunako flopped and rolled around in the grass, prowling through and sneaking up on her human to jump on her feet and bat at the toes poking through the tips of sandals. It was fun to be out in all the grass and fresh smelling outside, away from that canine that that other human had with him. The little canine had not noticed her, she did not think, but it had still been safer in her human's lap. Plus it had been warmer: a very good place for a nap. <br/><br/>She was not sleeping now, though. No, now she was hunting toes. And what was that furry thing she kept seeing out of the corner of her eye? Must chase that! But it was too fast. Almost.. almost...There it wa-- oh. It was her tail. Maybe her human would feed her now...<br/><br/>____ ___ __ _<br/><br/>Carefully unwrapping the bento, which Jinmi-sama had put in a pink and white flowered cloth of all things, Midori lifted the lid to examine the contents. There were two large rice balls. They kind of looked like panda bears (http://www.hawaiikawaii.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/2011_02_11panda_3782.jpg) or little dogs or something that she did not quite understand the point of, some smoked fish, raw vegetables, fruit, a noodle dish, and a little thermos of juice that had been set on top of the box. It was almost as large as dinner the night before had been, and Midori had no idea how she was supposed to be expected to eat it all. It would be rude to take it back to Jinmi-sama only partially eaten.<br/><br/>The fish and the fruit looked quite good though. "Itadakimasu" she murmured softly, as Otousan had taught her, grasping a piece of fish with the chopsticks Jinmi-sama had supplied. It was only half way to her mouth when Sunako grew bored of chasing her tail and came pouncing over eagerly. She must be hungry.<br/><br/>"Are you hungry, Sunako?" It was so much easier talking to the kitten then to other people. And Sunako always acted like she understood, weather she did or not Midori couldn't tell.<br/><br/>"Muuurh! Maaaoou!" tiny paws and sharp claws dug into her knee as the insistent little animal tried to climb up and gain access to the food.<br/><br/>"Hey! Do not be rude, Sunako." dropping the fish back into the box, Midori grasped the kitten up and set her back down an arms length away. "Here. Please ask nicely next time" she set the fish she had been about to eat on the ground in front of the furball, who immediately began purring and nibbling at the offering. Experience told Midori that the demanding little thing would not be able to finish the whole thing, anyway. It would keep her occupied for a while.<br/><br/>In the mean time, she started on her meal, working slowly through as best as she could. Though she managed not to eat any of the noodles, only one of the panda-dog rice balls, most of the vegetables, half the fish, and all of the fruit and juice. She would just have to tell Jinmi-sama that there had been far too much and maybe offer to eat the rest for dinner? That seemed like a good compromise and apology.<br/><br/>Just as she was contemplating the rest of her food, Sunako, who had become bored with her fish and abandoned it only slightly eaten in the dirt, clamored into her lap, humming loudly for attention. "What is it?" but the cause became obvious as two boys approached and began talking to her. The boy with the ponytail and put-upon attitude gave their names, but only their given names, and not family names. How was she supposed to know what to call them? To use only given names was far too familiar, and so was adding 'kun', even if it was a little less familiar. But tacking on 'san' or 'sama' to their given name was improper too, according to Otousan that was for last names. What was she supposed to do? She should stand and introduce herself correctly, but her lunch was balanced on her knees and Sunako was settled in her lap.<br/><br/>It was too late now, anyway. The other boy, Choji, was offering her some chips. Her stomach was already rather full, but to refuse the offer would be impolite as well--<br/><br/>"Sunako!" Midori gasped and grasped the kitten, who had stretched up, using Midori's knees to brace her front paws on, in an attempt to see into the bag of chips. Setting her back in her lap, the girl mumbled "Do not be rude. Stay here."<br/><br/>The kitten glared and flicked her short, fluffy little tail back and forth violently.<br/><br/>Belatedly, she realized she hadn't greeted the boys yet, or responded to them at all. "I am sorry about Sunako. Sometimes she is rude. It is nice to meet you, and thank you, also." She took a chip from the bag, stalling a moment. They had asked more questions anyway, and sat down, so now she did not have to stand up to shake hands.<br/><br/>"I have never played ninja before: I do not know the rules and I am not very good at group games." because being around too many rambunctious people made her nervous and confused as to how to act. "I think that looking at clouds sounds very calm." That was the other thing she did not like about large groups of children, even those her age: they were always very energetic, loud, and turbulent. They reminded her of that huge waterfall Otousan had shown her once when they were traveling.<br/><br/>She still did not know what would be right to call them. Should she ask? It felt awkward, but it was probably better to ask than to accidentally offend them when they were being so nice and friendly.<br/><br/>"Um.." now it was harder to talk to them because one was on either side. Eye contact was important when speaking to others. It could not be helped in this case. So, while speaking, Midori tried to alternate who she was looking at. "How would you like me to call you? You can call me Midori, if you want to instead of Yuhara-san." That was how friends did, right? And they seemed to want to be friends, maybe, according to what Otousan had said about how friends interacted. "But I do not know either of your family names, and I do not want to accidentally offend either of you by being too familiar too fast. A-and I kind of thought asking would be better than guessing." now that she was nervous and unsure, the words just started tumbling out.<br/><br/>"Also! Thank you for sharing with me. I have extra of my lunch, I already ate a lot of it, but Jinmi-sama made way too much food. You can have some if you w-want." she was speaking too quickly, but it was hard to stop it now. And speaking to two people at once was hard, "Jinmi-sama made the tsukudani onigiri look like a panda I think. I don't know why though, because inside it is normal tasting..." <em>That</em> had been puzzling her since she had opened the box. "If no one wants any I can take it back home and maybe eat it for dinner. I do not want to offend Jinmi-sama..." belatedly, she nibbled the chip Choji had given her...<br/></span></span>