Apples and Ice

" Goooooooooodmorning! ".

The first words that seemed to start off his day, though it wasn't something he was exactly bothered by. The energy of this particular individual always seemed to bring a positive light into his day. His eyes adjusted a bit as a woke up extremely early in the morning, hands motioning over them to help along with the process. Soon she would come into his vision far much clearly, and apparently the individual before Val had something positive to tell him based on the expression on her face. He immediately shook his head to fully awaken himself so he could take in whatever info without error.

" I have some great news! now I know Im not supposed to travel to certain places within the village but I figured since I already been to this particular place, it wouldn't be much of a big deal. Anywaaaaays when you was really sick recently, before I came here with your beautiful Plant friend, she informed me that the Green house was going to fire you if you missed anymore days, Bless her sweet heart by the way, how is she ? When you see her tell her I said Hi and that I send my love ".

Val looked at Ari, his mother for a second with an expression that basically was telling her that she was going off topic again like she often had a habit of doing. Ari knew her son far too well, picking up on the expression before bopping her own head slightly with her knuckles, feeling silly as she normally did. Getting back on track, Ari would continue with her initial thoughts.

" Sorry! what I was saying was that your Boss was going to fire you for missing the days at work. I figured that was not right so I marched down there and had a little talk with your boss, and no I didn't use anything to persuade'em. I just informed them that due to the horrible event, you was under the weather, in which they understood. You have to work extra though to make-up kinda though, so get ready! I already have breakfast made downstairs, so once you're set up here come see me down stairs and then I'll be shipping you out. No need to thank me! I didn't want you to be seperated from your Nice friend. Anyways yes! Dress, downstairs ".

A small smile came up on Val's face, an indication that he actually appreciated the energy that his mother possessed. It was strange definitely, but enjoyable. Nodding to display that he understood, he would get up out of bed completely, grab a Pair of his more casual clothes and make his way to the bathroom. A Few minutes passed before he walked out, cleaned and completely changed. He had breakfast following the daily cleanup, and as soon as he finished, he made his way out of the home quickly before Ari could stop him for her usual awkward goodbyes that often involved making an honest woman out of someone.

[Konoha - Greenhouse]

It wasn't too long before the young Yuki made his way to his first destination, which was the Greenhouse where he currently worked at. The Boss showed that she was proud to see him at last and that he was doing better, though the personal interactions didn't last all too long. There was somethings that he was to handle at the greenhouse, his day to day work prior to the Festival basically, and then there was a list of delivering that was to be made, following heading to the orchards, delivering supply to a specific shop, and then helping out that shop owner. That was quite a bit to be done, but everything prior to helping the shop owner would take a matter of minutes each. Tending to the plants at the greenhouse didn't take too long due to the new found respect and appreciation for nature established due to a certain somebody. Since the care taking of the herbs was done efficiently, that left a lot of energy to be dumped into taking care of the deliveries. Those took quite more time, though that was because of traveling from Point A, to B, and all the way to C and back to A. Still overall it take more than 2 hours time, and all that was left was to make his way to the orchards, pick up a Box of something and deliver it to a shop owner, and of course help the shop owner. This was the first time he had gotten a job like that while working within the greenhouse, it being a job that he couldn't accurately gauge the amount of time required to complete it. With a good deal of stamina still left within him, he made his way out to the Orchards, picking up the Package, which was a crate of Apples. It looked a good deal heavier than they actually were, so while a good amount of stamina would be spent, he would still be in a good condition upon nearing the place he was to deliver them.

[Konoha - Produce Store]

His attention remained on the sides, knowing that he wasn't walking in the opposite direction of street traffic. The only real thing that he needed to be aware of was crossing individuals, those walking through the flow, which wasn't too difficult. He continued making his way to his destination, and as he began to close in, he saw someone coming off from the side, short distance away actually. They were set on a collision course with each other, and natural assumption was that she was going to come to a pause, but one keen detail that he picked up on which caused immediate alert was that her eyes was closed. Since he was carrying a package and wasn't moving Fast, all he simply did was halt his movement, allowing way for her to pass without the two collision. It wouldn't just stop there though, as the girl tripped over herself and fell forwards right infront of him. Now the more noble thing upon seeing this was to drop the Apples and catch her, or if he couldn't catch her, then just check if she was okay immediately. When she was flat on the ground, the Yuki just walked over her without making contact with her with the intention on continuing making his way to the location. There was a pause though, once he was on the other side. The Yuki turned around to the fallen person on the ground and placed the opened crate filled with nice fresh beautiful apples on the ground gently before addressing her.

" Hey...are you alright ? You...probably shouldn't run with your eyes closed ".

Strange, the reaction of the Girl kind of sparked what could have been a slight chuckle. It didn't though, but the feeling was there indicated by what would be a microscopic, barely noticeable smirk. It was because of this amusement that the Yuki developed that he didn't smack her hand when she reached for the Apple. There was nothing really wrong with it since she had Paid for it, but it was just one of those things that was out of place, or at least it was for Val. Looking at her in full now that she was standing, she appeared quite short compared to the average females, though he was not aware of her age so he just assumed her to be very young. The way she was dressed too seemed a bit out of place to him, but was yet another bit of detail to him.

" Shiruku...Hana ".

He believed he was correct in the pronunciation of her name, but spoke it just to ensure that he was correct. He looked to the crates of Apples before looking back to her, and began to address her accordingly. He put a few things together in that moment of her introduction, including her paying prior to the merchandise reaching the store and came down with something that again would make him want to chuckle slightly, but he wouldn't.

" I just do what Im asked to do, whether it's helping at the Greenhouse or the Orchards...or Here so no thanks is needed. I have to ask though, am I wrong in assuming that you have an...Odd appreciation for Apples ? ".

Val really didn't know how to phrase it, and he did his best to be considerate with his words as he did not have intent to insult her in anyway. Just seeing someone fall face flat in the dirt just trying to reach the store for apples was kind of funny, even for him.

( Sorry for the late response T_T. Had a string of events that finally ended )

Strangely enough, for the first time in a very long time, indication of humor didn't completely go over his head. It wasn't exactly enough to cause a chuckle or anything, but enough for him to pick up on it and appreciate the attempt. It did bring him to realize that he had not introduced himself, something that wasn't really common practice to him.

" Vales...err...just Val is Fine "

Val was what everyone called him, at least those who knew him. On documentations within the Academy it was Vales, as well as any other official forms, but by people it was simply Val rather it be by individuals who knew him by business such as the workers at the greenhouse, or those closest to him like his very own mother. He remained there, mind slipping from his current task as he listened to her response regarding her obvious love for apples. The response itself didn't seem too odd to Val considering that for a great period of time in his life he just acted without personal feelings towards his tasks or general things requested of him. He could see her just eating them just because...but the way she expressed her reasons told him that she may have been going in the opposite direction of her truth, something that wasn't a problem at all and in fact was kind of adorable. In his eyes at the moment she kind of came off as a shy girl, which isn't too surprising for someone her age, or at least the age he thought she was. A moment of silence came about when she looked back up to him, looking into his eyes, with him looking into hers as a natural product of her action. It was a moment that seemed kind of frozen in time as the two mirrored the gaze, though for completely different reasons. Val wasn't attempting to look into her very being, but was in fact just caught up in her attempt, only to be shattered by what was the sound of teeth going into an apple, which caused his eyes to widen slightly once coming to.

" Huh!? oh!...Yea. I attend the Academy. I haven't been there for a while though...why do you ask ? Are you also at the academy ? ".

He didn't feel the need to give the reason why he haven't been there for awhile, but wasn't against giving it. Still fresh from the ordeal, he was in the process of coming to terms with everything and coming out of it a brand new individual hopefully. The question itself did peak his curiosity though, bringing up a question of his own. Based on her appearance, and personality solely based on the way she expressed herself, he didn't exactly peg her as someone who was interested in the life of being a Ninja, though others could say the exact same about him solely based on who he was prior to the recent event. His mind at this point had completely deviated away from what was his task, though there was time for the interaction considering how punctual he was regarding all the previous tasks.